Texas Woman Gives Birth in Parking Lot: 'No Pain, No Medicine, No Doctor'

A Texas woman gave birth in a parking lot outside of her apartment after being sent home from hospital the same day.

Lubbock resident Jasmyne Hughes woke up on November 27 with contractions and decided to visit the nearby hospital. However, hospital staff told her the baby was not due yet and allowed her to leave.

Around one hour later, when Hughes was back at her apartment with her mom, the baby began to appear.

"At that time, I didn't even know," Hughes told KCBD. "But I don't know, something told me to check, so I checked and I said, 'Oh no, her head's right here. So, then I called again, I was like, 'Mom, her head's coming, we need to go to the hospital.'"

Hughes rushed out towards her mother's car, which was in the parking lot, but the woman's water broke before they could leave.

Her mother, Sabrina Hughes, told KCBD: "I said, 'Has your water broke?' And as soon as I said that, her water broke. She was like, 'Momma, she coming.' We sit down in the car. I look, sure enough, there's a head. I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, we're fixing to have a baby, right here, right now.'"

Eventually, the baby, Ja'Kyiah Washington, was born in the front seat of the car, seemingly without a hitch.

"No pain, no medicine, no doctor, just me, her and her granny," Jasmyne Hughes said.

Soon after the baby had been delivered, Lubbock Fire Rescue officials arrived at the scene and cut the umbilical cord.

"I was happy that they were there to help me," Hughes said. "And they weren't worried, I guess they really couldn't be because it's their job to do it, but they had it under control."

Emergency responders then took Hughes, her mother, and the newborn child to hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital, Sabrina Hughes told her daughter: "You're amazing and I'm so proud of you. You did such a great job."

Jasmyne Hughes said she had "no worries at all" and wouldn't mind going through the experience again.

Her mother, however, has a slightly different take on the situation.

"It was a great experience. It's one that I would rather not have to experience again. But if I do, I kind of have an idea of what to expect," Sabrina Hughes said.

Hughes' story bears similarities to that of a California woman who gave birth in her front yard in November.

Emily Johnson, from Vacaville in the north of the state, began having contractions one week before her baby was due, KCRA reported. Johnson and her husband thought they had plenty of time to get to the nearest hospital, which is located just five minutes from their home.

But then the contractions rapidly started occurring closer together and the couple realized that they would have to deliver the baby in the front yard.