Talk about multi-tasking! Kentucky mother of five Heather Skaats gave birth to her sixth child on the side of a road while her other children sat in the car. Thinking her due date was three weeks away, the special delivery came on May 15.
“I was having light contractions before we left, so I figured I had time to run an errand,” Skaats, 34, told TODAY Parents. “I thought I wouldn’t have a baby in my arms until eight or ten hours later,” she said. But nature had other plans, as Skaats’s contractions intensified, coming closer together, a clear sign she was in labor.
Skaats said she started driving faster, in hopes of having the home water birth she had planned, but her time ran out. “I pulled over — assured the kids that everything was OK — and then I grabbed my phone and got out of the van,” Skaats said, describing the squat position she took on the ground, as 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!’”
According to TODAY Parents, Skaats was able to catch the little boy, who weighed in at seven pounds. Skaats then drove home with her newborn on her lap, the placenta still not delivered. Her other children range in age from 2 to 13. Another daughter, Leilah, succumbed to cancer in 2016 at the age of 4.
Once home, Skaats delivered her placenta in the shower, with help from her 13-year-old daughter, Kaelynn.
Ad Choices