Sep 4, 2008 1:55 pm US/Central
Mom Delivers Baby In Front Seat Of Car
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
When Leslie Russell started having stomach cramps at 4 a.m. Tuesday, the pregnant South Side woman figured she just had to go to the bathroom.
It wasn't until almost 12 hours later that she realized: This is it — labor!
The 28-year-old University of Illinois at Chicago graduate student headed to the hospital — and almost made it. She wound up giving birth to her second child in the front seat of a Toyota Camry driven by her mother, right outside the University of Chicago's Bernard Mitchell Hospital.
A University of Chicago pediatrician, who happened by as she went to get something from her car, noticed Russell and delivered the baby right there on Ellis Street.
"I was trying really hard not to push," Russell said Thursday. "I said: 'I can't have a baby in the car!' But apparently you can because Toyotas are really reliable vehicles. They're good for everything, including childbirth."
Russell's baby girl was born at 4:07 p.m. Tuesday. She named her Claire Camryn Russell Vincent. Camryn was in honor of the car.
Russell had planned to give birth at Northwestern's Prentiss Hospital. But she took a detour to the U. of C. when her contractions started coming hard and fast.
At first, she didn't think she was going into labor because the contractions started out so mild and sporadically timed.
Laughing, Russell said, "I may have to be induced if I ever decide to have another child."
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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