Woman gave birth in car on way to hospital, mom helped deliver

Talk about a midwife crisis.

A mom from Wales just couldn’t make it to the hospital in time to deliver her baby — so she gave birth in the back of a car on the side of the road, with her mom acting as a midwife, according to South West News Service.

Lorien Williams, 24, went into labor in August 2022 while she was at home, so her mom, Hayley Williams, 54, sister Deanna Bass, 33, and partner Luke Sermandel, 28, packed into their seven-seater car to race her to the hospital.

But Lorien’s daughter, Harper Rae, couldn’t wait to come into the world: She was born about 15 minutes into the drive.

“I still can’t get over that it actually happened, it really is crazy,” Lorien told SWNS. “There was no way anybody could have predicted that this was going to happen.”

Lorien had gone to the hospital earlier that evening to get a membrane sweep, a procedure that can help induce labor, and she was sent home.

She remembers feeling like she was in “agony” coming home.

So, the family took off for the hospital in Deanna’s Vauxhall Zafira, but couldn’t make it all the way without delivering Lorien’s bundle of joy.

After Lorien just couldn’t wait any longer to push, her sister pulled over to the side of the road and her mom leapt into action, crawling to the back of the car to help her daughter deliver.

Just minutes later, Harper Rae was born on Aug. 9, 2022, at 3:03 a.m. — and it wasn’t smooth sailing.

As Lorien was delivering, her mom and sister noticed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck.

They had emergency services operators talk them through what to do.

“I was really scared,” admitted Lorien, who is also mom to 3-year-old Ruby. “They were trying to pull the cord, to unravel it from her neck.”

Thankfully, Hayley and Deanna were able to safely remove the cord from Harper Rae’s neck, and emergency services helped them complete the trip to the hospital 20 minutes away.

“If we had got to the hospital, my sister wouldn’t have been able to be in the room to see me give birth,” Lorien explained. “In a way the moment was bittersweet for us all.”

Once they arrived, doctors checked that mom and baby were happy and healthy, and they were cleared to go back home just hours later.

Now, one year later, Lorien’s little girl is doing extremely well, despite her unique entrance into the world.

“Harper is now speaking — saying mom and dad,” Lorien gushed to SWNS. “She is doing amazing.”

And, even though things didn’t go as planned, Lorien said she wouldn’t trade her car birth for anything.

“If I could, I would do it all again tomorrow,” she admitted.