Mom Gives Birth in Car After Cops Stop Driver for Speeding

on February 2, 2012 at 1:39 PM

speedometer It was go, granny, go, as an Ohio woman attempted to rush her daughter, who was in labor, to the hospital. Around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, Donna Richmond was clocked going 90 miles per hour in her mission to make sure her grandchild was born safely in the hospital as planned.

Only her plan was thwarted, as a police officer stopped her for speeding. “I knew I was going fast, I didn’t know I was going that fast,” Donna Richmond told WBNS-TV. When the officer approached the car, Debbie Richmond called out from the backseat, "I'm in labor!"

Thankfully, the officer let them off with a warning. But it was too late.

Not long thereafter, with no drugs or doctors, little Sarah Lynn Altman came into this world ... in the front seat of her mother's Hyundai. Debbie Richmond told the station:

I was holding my legs together. She just popped right out. No pain medication or nothing.

Everyone is fine, and Sarah will certainly have an incredible birth story to tell, but it does raise a question about what women in labor should do when they need to get to the hospital fast.

Certainly we can't have them throw all caution aside, because that wouldn't be safe for anyone if every nervous dad and jittery grandma put the pedal to the metal, but it seems there should be something.

Maybe pregnant women should get a special light for their car for use only in emergency situations? At least people would know to get out of their way. Maybe it's a flag they wave out their window to get the attention of police who could then escort them? I'm not sure what, but I do know that when I was pregnant with my son in Seattle where traffic was horrific, I was terrified of being stuck in traffic and not making it to the hospital in time.

Thankfully, it didn't happen, but babies born on the side of the road do happen. Typically they're okay, but it would be nice if we could figure out a way to help more women deliver in hospitals instead of Hyundais.

Did you have any problems getting to the hospital in time when you were in labor?

Image via Nathan E Photography/Flickr

About the author Julie Ryan Evans

can be found writing from coffee houses wherever she may be. The quality of her days is largely influenced by the seat she nabs and whether a protein plate is available.

Filed Under: complications, delivery

Comments (37)

Nonmember comment from Pam

on Feb 2, 2012 at 1:42 PM

So wait...the laboring mother was calling out from the back seat and the child was born in the front seat? How did that happen? Did grandma stop short and the baby fly out like a cannonball?

Report this comment

Doomy234

on Feb 2, 2012 at 1:46 PM

Isnt that what ambulances are for? If your full on in labor and live far away from the hospital, call an ambulance. They have the right of way when it comes to speeding and running red lights.

Stacey.

on Feb 2, 2012 at 1:47 PM

What happened to calling 911 for an emergency? They should have been ticketed, going that fast could have endangered other peoples lives.

Elise48

on Feb 2, 2012 at 2:03 PM

Here you have to pay a few thousand dollars for an abulance ride (not counting any procedures that may be done while on that ride). It's not always an option. I'd definitely take my chances going 90 in a car - it is possible to drive both fast and safely.

Nonmember comment from Lindsay

on Feb 2, 2012 at 2:08 PM

Apparently Doomy234 and Stacey have not called 911. From my experience the Fire Department shows up first and they are not equipped to transport anyone, let alone a woman in labour,so they tell you to wait for an ambulance, which, as I was told, could take up to 20 minutes to get there...so guess what? My husband ended up taking me.

Nonmember comment from FormerEMT

on Feb 2, 2012 at 2:11 PM

Doomy and Stacey are right - 911 is the way to go. EMTs and paramedics are trained in child birth. Not to mention if something goes wrong with mom or baby on the drive in, there is no one there to assist. Elise - it's crazy to say that it's possible to drive "both fast and safely." No matter how careful you drive (fast or slow), you never know what the other idiots on the road are going to do! God forbid you're in an accident and air bags deploy. What started out as simple child birth, could end up as placenta previa (ruptured placenta). Health insurance will cover an ambulance because imminent child birth would be considered an emergency. And if you are uninsured, you will rack up enough bills in the hospital for the delivery that the ambulance bill will be minor in comparison! And if you're in a town with a volunteer ambulance service, you may not be charged for the trip at all (that's the way it works here in NY). This grandmother was very reckless! They are all lucky this story had a happy ending!

BetweenCourses

on Feb 2, 2012 at 2:59 PM

It was 4 in the morning! How many other folks on the road? Guessing, not many. Also, labor can go from zero to sixty in five minutes, so what may have started as a regular drive got a little crazy due to a fast progressing labor. Should you drive like an idiot, no, but if no one else on the road, going 90 is understandable. She said she had no idea she was going that fast.

lovesouldoula

on Feb 2, 2012 at 3:30 PM

It sounds like mom and baby were low-risk and healthy. Why not just skip the hospital, have your baby in the safety of your home and avoid traffic all together? They obviously didn't need any help from anyone.

Mrs.Kubalabuku

on Feb 2, 2012 at 3:37 PM

It was always my understanding that if there was a doubt I could make it to the hospital I was to call 9-11 for an ambulance.

I suppose an ambulance would take care of the need for "special lights and sirens" and I would get the bonus of a well-trained driver and someone at least moderately trained on emergency births on the way....

I know some labors start slow and normal, but if things are progressing so quickly you don't think you can make it, you are told to PULL OVER, CALL 9-11, get talked through things by the dispatcher, and wait.

Can you even imagine the outcome of this story had "Granny" gotten in an accident with a laboring daughter in the car at 90 miles per hour?

BriLee

on Feb 2, 2012 at 3:45 PM

I've taken an ambulance ride with my son and it cost us a whopping $100 co-pay. If she was in active labor like that then a 911 call should have occurred. A friend of mine is on Medicare and her responsibility for an ambulance ride is $0. I would think most expecting moms without insurance would have applied for Medicare. Sorry, no excuse for driving 90 no matter what time it is. Just think if a drunk was on the same road. An accident with a drunk and another going 90 could have been really bad. Glad things turned out great for this new mom though. I had nightmares of having an "I-5 Baby" several times with each pregnancy. Never happened...at least not yet.