A Laval family is breathing a sigh of relief after their baby was born outside the MUHC’s Royal Victoria Hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning. Doors to the front entrance were locked, as per hospital policy and despite the mishap, the family is grateful that medical staff came to the rescue so quickly.
Baby Jasmine Culzac’s birth story is nothing short of incredible and unconventional. The healthy baby girl was born on Jan. 27, delivered by her father in the car outside the hospital’s front entrance.
It all started in the wee hours of the morning when the soon-to-be mother-of-four went into labour. What was supposed to be a 15-minute drive from Laval to the hospital turned into a nightmare.
“First of all, the 40 was blocked from the 13 because there was snow removal — we were really unlucky with that,” father Joe Culzac said.
Then, another highway exit was closed due to construction. The family called 911 when they thought the baby would be born in transit. But they ended up cancelling the ambulance just before pulling up to the hospital thinking they were in the clear.
“We get to the hospital, we got to the main floor as you drive in, we went to the Royal Vic side, we started knocking on the doors, the doors were locked,” Joe Culzac said.
The frantic father proceeded to run next door to the Montreal Children’s Hospital entrance, where the doors were also locked. By the time the nurses opened the door, he was already back in the car, delivering his fourth daughter.
“He’s saying, ‘You have to push,’ so I pushed,” Sylvia Culzac said. “I just looked at him and he’s pulling her out and in his arms there she was, amazing.”
“You can’t make this stuff up — it belongs in the movies, it’s really crazy,” big sister Raquel Ortega Culzac said.
The MUHC is investigating and released the following statement to Global News: “Pregnant women who are followed at the Royal Victoria Hospital are informed of how to access the Birthing Centre outside of regular hours. For safety reasons, all doors cannot be left unlocked at night; expectant parents are told to enter the hospital at level S1 or on the main floor through the door in front of the security desk.”
The family says they’re grateful for the nurses and medical staff who responded so quickly.
While they understand why the doors were locked, they hope others will find their way into the hospital before another baby makes its grand entrance into the world, outside.
“I’m still in shock as how it came to be that everything turned out so well,” the proud new mother-of-four said.