"I didn't even have to push. It was so quick," said the Kentucky mom who gave birth to her youngest son on the side of the road.
A Kentucky mom recently gave birth on the side of a road while her five other children sat in the car. 34-year-old Heather Skaats took to Facebook earlier this month to share the incredible story of her youngest son's birth, writing: "Well, I had another wonderful water birth planned at home just as I had in the past. That didn't go as planned. I was literally driving in the car with all the kids when I felt like I needed to pull over. Got out of the car, went to the other side in the grass and literally had a baby. It was so quick!"
Speaking to TODAY about her quick delivery, Skaats shared: "I was having light contractions before we left, so I figured I had time to run an errand. I thought I wouldn't have a baby in my arms until eight or ten hours later." She added that her due date was three weeks away and she had labored for hours with her older children. However, her contractions suddenly intensified and started coming very close together, indicating that labor has begun. Although Skaats initially tried to drive faster in the hopes that she could make it home to have a water birth as planned, it quickly became clear that the young one wasn't waiting.
"I pulled over—assured the kids that everything was OK—and then I grabbed my phone and got out of the van," Skaats recounted. She was in a squat position on the ground when her water broke. "I put my hand down there and his head started coming out with his body," she said. "I didn't even have to push. It was so quick. I was on the phone with my husband, Nick, and 20 seconds later, I was like, 'He's here!'"
"He started crying right away, and he just opened his eyes and looked at me and I said, 'Yeah, buddy that was fun, huh?'" Skaats recalled. With the baby—who weighed seven pounds—still attached to her placenta inside her body, the mom slowly got back into the vehicle. Skaats and her husband are also parents to Kaelynn, 13, Aneleigh, 11, Austin, 6, Luke, 3, Alyssa, 2, and Leilah, who died of cancer when she was 4 in 2016. "I wrapped him in a blanket and drove with him close to my chest," Skaats said. "I think the kids were in shock. They were pretty quiet."
Once they reached back home, Skaats delivered her placenta in the shower with the help of her daughter Kaelynn before the midwife arrived. "We had to pick the grass off him," Skaats shared. "I think having had home births in the past sort of taught me to trust my body," she added, explaining how she was able to remain calm. "Knowing the process really helped." In her Facebook post, she admitted that she thought such things only happen in movies. "I'm still in shock that I delivered my own baby on the side of the road. But he is perfect, all of the kids are happy to have him here, and today was a day I will never forget," she wrote.
"My husband is not too happy about missing it but at least he was on the phone with me when I called to say 'I'm going to have a baby on the side of the road' and 5 seconds later he came out. Just for reference, when I started driving, I was having some lighter contractions. In my previous births, I didn't have a baby in my arms until 8ish hours later," Skaats added. "I was literally just out in the barn feeding horses 20 minutes before he came out. It was that fast. And no, he still doesn't have a name. Have to keep that tradition alive! Although Austin wants to nickname him The Flash."
