Claire Clarke-Wood, Midwife, Delivers Own Baby Using Makeup Mirror
Midwife Claire Clarke-Wood has delivered plenty of babies throughout the years, but she never expected to deliver her own child using only a makeup mirror.
Clarke-Wood was trying to get some sleep after a shift at Croydon University Hospital near London when she awoke to sharp pains, the Croydon Guardian reports.
Initially, the 28-year-old thought the aches were just back pain, but she soon realized she was having contractions -- about 3 weeks early.
She alerted her husband about her progress at about 5 a.m., but she thought it would be a while before it was time to give birth. She was wrong.
The contractions intensified, and Clarke-Wood soon found herself delivering her own baby in the bathroom, using a hand mirror. Her baby, named Esmay, was born at 7:26 a.m. on Dec. 11, Clarke-Wood said in a video interview with the BBC.
Clarke-Wood was scheduled to begin her maternity leave starting Dec. 16, the Croydon Guardian reports.
"Me and my colleagues had joked: 'Wouldn't it be funny if I ended up delivering my own baby?'", she told the BBC. She just never thought it would actually happen.
Baby Esmay might have an interesting story to tell her friends one day, but Clarke-Wood isn't the only mother who has given birth in unusual circumstances.
Just a few weeks after the midwife's unexpected delivery, an Australian mother gave birth to her daughter right under her Christmas tree. The woman went into labor while wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve.
In January, a New Jersey mother gave birth to her son in the car, while pulled over on the side of the Garden State Parkway, according to NorthJersey.com.
The bathroom might not be the most bizarre place to give birth to a child, but we're pretty sure some of these unusual birthplaces might take the cake:
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First Posted: 12/29/11 06:12 PM ET Updated: 12/29/11 06:14 PM ET