Victoria Williams, DO, a family medicine practitioner at Petaluma (Calif.) Health Center, has delivered numerous babies for her patients. But she never expected to deliver her own child in a moving car en route to the hospital, according to The Press Democrat.
Dr. Williams said she experienced contractions May 1 which later stalled out. Around 6:45 a.m. PST May 2, her water broke.
No more than 25 minutes later, she and her husband were driving on Highway 101 to Petaluma (Calif.) Valley Hospital. Though she began experiencing contractions during the 25 minute timeframe, Dr. Williams said she and her husband were not worried about reaching the hospital in time.
Once en route, she reportedly called her colleagues at the hospital, telling them she would be arriving soon to give birth.
Moments later, Dr. Williams said the contractions became more intense. She said she directed her husband, who was driving the vehicle, to phone their midwife and tell her she was "involuntarily pushing" the baby and to make her way to the hospital if she had not already done so, according to the report.
Around 7:25 a.m., Dr. Williams said she reached down and felt the top of her baby's head.
"My next thought [was], 'anterior shoulder!' My last kid was 8-and-a-half pounds so I knew a big baby was a possibility ... I [gave] slight traction downward until I [felt] a shoulder then I [knew] we are all clear and rest of baby will come out just fine. I put both hands down and [pulled] the baby up … I [gave] an ever-so-gentle sweep inside [the baby's] cheek for fluid [and looked] down and [saw] a vulva. It [was] a girl!"
A birthing center nurse and emergency room crew reportedly met the couple outside the facility upon arrival, according to the report.
Dr. Williams said she was "very, very lucky" the birthing process occurred without any complications, according to the report.