After a woman gave birth in a car just off the Eisenhower Expressway early Monday with only her husband to aid in the delivery, she pressed the healthy infant to her chest for warmth until paramedics arrived.
Mother and infant, a baby girl weighing 8 pounds and 1 ounce, were both healthy Monday morning at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park.
“Baby is doing fantastic, and mother is doing very well,” said Dr. Donald Reese, who cared for both at the hospital.
Dr. Donald Reese | Mitch Dudek\Sun-Times Media
The birth occurred about 3:40 a.m. in the 900 block of South Austin. The baby’s father called 911, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman said.
The family did not want to be identified for now, according to a hospital spokeswoman. But they did release photos of the baby and her name, Camila.
Reese, who cut the umbilical cord and delivered the afterbirth when the woman arrived at the hospital via ambulance, said the mother did everything right — some babies just move quicker than others.
“Labor is one of those amazing things in nature that one time it can take weeks and the next time it can take 30 minutes,” he said.
“The delivery went pretty quick, probably less than five minutes,” Reese said, adding that contractions began about 30 minutes earlier. “The baby was only a little cold, the mom did a wonderful job of keeping her warm from the delivery site to here.”
The mother had been heading to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, where she had received prenatal care, but paramedics chose West Suburban Hospital because it was closer.
It was probably something the baby’s two older siblings, who were there, will never forget.
Reese said he sees the scenario about once a month and is always left wondering if the cars that babies are delivered in are spacious.
The mother, who’s in her 30s, speaks only Spanish. Her due date was Tuesday. She jokingly told Reese through a translator: “This is my last baby.”
Camila was born early Monday in a vehicle on Austin Boulevard. She’s now at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. | Photo courtesy of West Suburban Medical Center
