Woman gives birth on subway train (Boston)

[MaineDem]

It's not really important political news but I love the ease with which she delivered. Wow!

BOSTON (AP) - A woman gave birth to a boy Wednesday morning on a subway train in Boston, transit police said.

Passengers said the mother quietly declined their assistance while she was in labor on the full rush-hour train, said Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority Lt. Gary Fredericks. He met the train at the JFK stop on the Red Line after train commuters used cell phones to call for help.

''She didn't tell anybody, didn't say a word,'' about the birth, Fredericks said. ''Next thing they knew the baby was on the floor.''

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/211/region/Woman_gives_birth_on_subway_tr:.shtml

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. OMG

Lucky the poor thing could breathe and all.
"She didn't tell anybody..."
OMG.

[Loonman]

2. People should have to get licenses

Before having children.

[mclam]

5. That's a bit harsh.

If I went into labor on a subway I wouldn't tell anyone. The alternative is having a traincar full of total strangers staring at your vagina. We don't know anything about this woman's religious beliefs but even without knowing there are any number of very shy and body-conscious women out there. No need to go from that to she's a terrible mother.

[Loonman]

7. What if it was a breech birth?

And then you have a dead newborn and maybe a dying mother on the train as well?

[mclam]

9. It's still her body.

I'm not saying it's a fantastic thing that she didn't tell anybody. I'm just saying I see where she may have been coming from and I don't think it reflects on her skills as a parent just because she didn't instantly spread her legs on the seats and welcome the first would-be-hero to shove his hands up the holiest of holies. :-)
Lots of women are seriously embarrased about this kind of thing- it doesn't make them unworthy of having children in the first place.

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. There are also women who do not have intense labor pains and don't

realize until it's too late that those are labor pains, not indigestion. My mother being one of them. Sometimes, for some women, labor is not the intense, painful experience that we here about in those birthing horror stories women love to tell. So she just might have not realized it, or thought she had enough time. People should be licensed before they can judge a situation, or person.

[cmf]

17. My mother was another one of those women

Not only were both of her labors quick, but they were without pain for the first phase of labor. When she had me (her first child), she went into the doctor for a check up and he found her to be 5cm already. She had me 4 hours later. Her labor (from the time she realized she was in labor to the time she gave birth) with my sister was 2 hours long. She almost gave birth in the car on the way to the hospital. My father checked her in, went to park the car, and when he got back to labor and delivery, my sister was already here.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

11. sounds like a totalitarian nightmare

who decides who gets to have children, you? what are the requirements? You're probably joking, but too many times in history have things like this been proposed. Remember when they sent eugenicists around the neighborhoods looking for people to sterilize? Yes, in the United States, in this century. No thanks.

[SeattleDem]

3. OK, I'm due in 2 weeks - should this give me hope or scare me?

wow - I'm sitting here waiting for labor to start sometime in the next few days - should I feel calmed that this woman could do this on her own, or should I feel afraid to go out in public or use transportation in the upcoming days?? Giving birth on a Seattle Metro bus doesn't really sound like the way I want to deliver...
:-)

[Atlant]

4. Don't try it on the Orange Line in Boston!

> should I feel afraid to go out in public or use transportation in the upcoming days??

Don't try it on the Orange Line in Boston!

In the afternoons, there's not room in any Orange Line car
for even ONE MORE PERSON, no matter how teeny, tiny! :-)

Atlant

(Ignoring obvious logic error for the sake of humor)

[SiobhanClancy]

14. The Green Line B Car

is the worst,nearly any time.

[starroute]

8. Births that unexpected are extremely rare

You do hear stories of women who give birth without any noticeable period of labor beforehand.

I remember my aunt once telling a story about someone who woke up in the middle of the night, felt some mild cramping, went to the bathroom, and had the baby plop out into the toilet.

I've also seen it claimed that Winston Churchill's mother gave birth to him in a cloakroom after only a few minutes of labor -- though I think I've also seen that one debunked.

But the real point is how uncommon these events are -- only about one step above being urban legends. If you're due to give birth in two weeks, you've got far more interesting things to be thinking about. :-)

[Lars39]

10. The *baby dropping into the toilet* scenario happens way too often.

I know of 3 cases personally.

[TahitiNut]

12. It depends on what kind of story you want to tell your child ...

... when it gets older, and what impression it makes. :silly:

[Mal]

6. And I thought OUR health system was bad!

.

[SoCalDem]

13. Kansas Blizzard..phone lines down..3 am.. ..Hi Baby !!!

My friend's 10 year old son helped her deliver his sister on the kitchen floor..(white carpet)..:)


She had him boil water (yes I know :eyes:) to dip the scissor blades into.. and after about 20 minutes , the cord was cut, the baby was fine and when it was daylight and the snow had let up, she had him slog across the yard to a neighbor who had a jeep.. They all went to the hospital, were checked over , called Dad (who was in Atlanta), and went home..

The ultimate irony...her doctor still sent her a bill for the delivery :eyes:

She called the insurance company and told them how the birth had actually happened and they got the doctor to greatly reduce the charge:)

[ronnykmarshall]

15. Women are so incredible.

I could not imagine what it would be like giving birth. Granted, I have a pretty high pain threashold, but I would be screaming my ass off.

And if I was on train? Look out, the drama mama in me would be all over it.

OooooHHHHHH LAWRD! Get THIS MOTHER FUCKER MOVING!!!! I ain't having this baby on HERE!!!!

I'd be standing up yellin' my ass off. You'd KNOW I mean business.

[cmf]

18. This reminds me of a thing I saw on a documentary once

About tribal women in Africa. The women would go out into a field alone when they were in labor and just have the baby - no screaming, etc. It's like they would go into some sort hypnotic state when giving birth, and just go with the urges of their bodies.

Maybe she was doing some sort of self hypnosis. This would explain her silence.