Baby Survives Being Born In Toilet

Heather Richard thought she would never have a baby - until one was born in her toilet.

Richard, who is from Winnipeg, had been feeling unwell when she retired to the toilet in her home last weekend. Upon using the facilities, she gave birth to a 5-pound baby boy. She had previously had three miscarriages and been told she would not have children.

The Toronto Star reports her reaction:

"Just fell out, I thought it was my intestines, so I'm freaking out, I'm going to die, but then it's a little boy," Richard told CTV Winnipeg on Monday.

Richard's relatives found her in the bathroom in a state of shock. Her cousin relayed his reaction to CBC news:

"I look and I see her sitting here and crying and pointing at the toilet. So I look and there is a baby in there with the foot hanging out and there's blood everywhere and I didn't know what to do and so I got really shocked," said Keith Richard, a cousin of the woman.

According to Richard's grandmother, no one knew she was pregnant as she was a "hefty girl."

By a bizarre twist of fate, at that moment two police officers were knocking at the door to arrest Richard for a number of outstanding warrants.

After plucking the baby from the toilet, the officers gave CPR to the boy, who was taken to hospital. It was reported that the baby suffered a skull fracture from hitting his head on the bowl, but he is now in a stable condition.

The officer who gave CPR to the boy is now being taking medications because of the possibility of bodily fluid contamination.

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Comments

[Angela Canales]

09:52 PM on 12/16/2009

wow, that kid is going to grow up to play some mean blues guitar.

[kingofthenet]

08:13 PM on 12/16/2009

It reminds me of that Monty Python scene in 'Meaning Of Life'

[niko73]

10:35 AM on 12/16/2009

Amazingly, this happens a lot more than you'd think. My wife watches "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" on Discovery Health. Every week they document 6 women who go into labor without knowing they were pregnant. Dozens of times, they have the kid in the toilet because they think they have to go. After hearing it enough times, I'm convinced these women are not stupid. They have irregular periods anyway, and they spot during pregnancy. They don't show, at all. No signs or symptoms whatsoever. Pretty weird, but it's not as rare as I thought.

[KIVPossum]

05:56 AM on 12/16/2009

Somehow this doesn't pass the smell test.

She drops a baby in the toilet and just sits there looking at it. Guess unless the cops were there to get her, she'd have let it drown.

[PunKinPai]

02:17 PM on 12/16/2009

Shock does weird things to the mind.

[Suntio]

09:48 AM on 12/17/2009

I admit that there may be a remote possibility that this is true, but I'm not buying it. As a mother, I can tell you that a mother's instinct to protect her baby is stronger than anything.

[cbvani]

02:06 AM on 12/16/2009

What gets me is that she was getting arrested at the time. Clearly trying to cover something up.

[munki]

10:27 PM on 12/15/2009

Hope the baby will grow up in good hands and do not recall this incidence...

[Suntio]

09:50 PM on 12/15/2009

In the end, whether the mom knew or not that she was having a baby (I believe she knew), the real victim in this story is the baby.

[goodog]

09:42 PM on 12/15/2009

"The officer who gave CPR to the boy is now being taking medications because of the possibility of bodily fluid contamination."

There wasn't much reason to add that part to the story, but:

a) this is a nice counterpoint to the story about the Texas couple who tried to flush their baby;

b) the only difference between this case and that case might be that the police were already at the door. or;

c) she's more than just hefty

My jr high RWS teacher was suddenly out of school having a baby, when none of us knew she was pregnant in the first place, because she was already a very large woman.

I guess it can happen, but I find it hard to believe Richard didn't know she was pregnant.

[HelixScanr]

09:33 PM on 12/15/2009

"Heigh-di-ho!!!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Hankey,_the_Christmas_Poo

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103771/

[MichB1]

03:43 PM on 12/16/2009

Ew.

[I Love Texas]

09:19 PM on 12/15/2009

Mother to son 20 years later: You are nothing but a piece of shite! Literally!

[duxguts]

06:27 AM on 12/17/2009

Are you from Texas?

[HelixScanr]

09:17 PM on 12/15/2009

"Nyyyyyye-ice"

Just image 'baby's first photos"

"PICA-POOO!"

[JNo]

09:04 PM on 12/15/2009

As people continue to get fatter an fatter, expect more women to drop kids in toilets.

[doitright]

08:27 PM on 12/15/2009

My mom had six kids, and she said we all just popped right out. Scarcely any pain, all over in minutes, no drugs. And this was in the fifties. My mom was not "a hefty girl," and she knew she was pregnant, but labor and birthing were pretty quick and easy for her.

[MichB1]

03:43 PM on 12/16/2009

I'll bet you my paycheck she's a wonderful liar.

[HaloGuy]

08:26 PM on 12/15/2009

My cousin is an ER nurse, and he has had two of these cases, overweight women not knowing they are pregnant. When they are asked about how long they've been pregnant, both their responses: "I ain't pregnant, there ain't no kid in there."

Do no underestimate the stupidity of so many yokels in our fair nation.

[idontknowanything]

09:19 PM on 12/15/2009

Alas, she is Canadian, as I am. I assume you are from the USA?

[LauraD]

09:24 PM on 12/15/2009

I just don't understand this. Even if you're fat, you can still feel things. When you get kicked in the bladder from the inside, you feel it, even if you're ENORMOUS.

[Suntio]

08:22 PM on 12/15/2009

What's also weird is that after she "realized' that she just had a baby, she just sat there on the floor while her baby was IN THE TOILET, head down. It sounds to me like she intended to kill her baby. I know I'm jumping to conclusions, but I just have a "hunch".