Suburban Chicago Couple Deliver Their Own Baby On Roadside

Being a father of two, I was present and a "participant" in the births of both kids, all with the clear understanding that the delivery part of the equation would be handled by medical professionals.

I was semi-confident that I was nearly qualified for the conception process of family-building, but overseeing and/or conducting the actual birth---not so much. The anesthesiologist even told me that if I were to faint or pass out, they were going to leave me on the floor until Mom and baby were all taken care of.

It Turns Out That More Babies Are Delivered Outside Of Hospitals Than You May Have Thought

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that approximately 59,000 American babies are born outside of hospitals each year. Out-of-hospital deliveries represented just 1.5 percent of births in the United States, which is a fairly small number. I was the first member of my direct family to be born in a hospital, as my parents and grandparents arrived at home.

According to Romper.com, of those births, "63.8 percent took place in a residence. Another 30.5 percent occurred in freestanding birthing centers. That leaves only a slim percentage of the overall births taking place in America to have occurred in cars."

Tim And Katie Hayes Didn't Have A Lot Of Options As They Sped To The Hospital In Elgin Last Friday

The Hayes family (about to extended by one) were on their way to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, but once the turn was made onto Randall Road, they figured out in short order that the baby had no intention of waiting around until they got there.

NBC Chicago:

Tim and Katie say that they were not even a half-mile from the hospital’s main entrance, along Fox Lane, when things became much more urgent.

“We got to Fox, and his head’s out,” she said. “(I said) ‘I can’t do this anymore. I need help.’”

“Randall’s pretty busy, so I wasn’t going to cross traffic there,” Tim added. “So I put it in park, hopped up on the center console. I helped her with my hand behind his head, and my finger in his armpit and on his shoulder. She did all the work, a couple of pushes and I was able to pull him out.”

Tim and Katie Hayes have named their son Hudson Fox, his middle name being the same name as the street on which he was delivered.