'Surprise' baby survives toilet birth

[The Straight Story]

'Surprise' baby survives toilet birth


WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A newborn boy in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is expected to fully recover after being born into a toilet by his mother who says she didn't know she was pregnant.

The child was born in the home of Heather Richards, 33, Sunday morning while she was sitting on the toilet in pain, the Winnipeg Free Press reported Tuesday.

"I didn't know what it was at first," she said of her first delivery. "I thought I was dying."

Police officers were in the home on an unrelated matter when they heard Richards' screams.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/12/15/Surprise-baby-survives-toilet-birth/UPI-26771260890570/

[CTyankee]

1. What a sad thing for this child and his mother.

This poor woman didn't know she was pregnant and I am guessing that she is isolated from help, family and care up there in Manitoba.

Hope the family is OK now and receiving some assistance in caring for the baby and for the family...

[pnwmom]

2. She thought she was dying. So this is a GOOD thing.

"When he started to cry, it was the best thing I've ever heard," Richards told the newspaper.


And why would she be more likely to be without family and help in Winnipeg than if she were living anywhere else?

[CTyankee]

3. I don't know. I think it's strange....nt

[Berry Cool]

4. This kind of stuff is always documented on that reality show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant."

Some woman begins suffering terrible cramps, goes to the bathroom, sits on the toilet pushing and moaning in utter agony, then feels a huge WHOOSH as a gigundous thing drops into the toilet and, well, she looks to see, just what WAS that piece of crap that made it so hard to get out? And then she finds she's connected to it by an umbilical cord, and it's not what she thought it was, it's a baby.

If she's lucky, she has a husband or boyfriend around to help call 911.

Most of the time, the answer to the mystery of why she didn't know has to do with a combination of a) having been on antibiotics and not realized they interfere with the efficacy of birth-control pills; b) having irregular menstrual periods as a matter of course; and c) either being overweight to begin with or not gaining much weight during pregnancy.

The bad news is these women had no prenatal care at all, which is dangerous for both them and the babies to which they give birth.

[Shallah Kali]

5. Another case for 'I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant' on discovery health

http://health.discovery.com/tv/i-didnt-know-i-was-pregnant

it is amazing how many women don't realize they are pregnant like this. I hope baby and Mom will thrive in spite of the traumatic arrival!