A Manitoba woman ended up giving birth in the family car on the side of a highway Wednesday night after the hospital told her to go home twice.
Lyla Alice Camiré was born at 9:40 p.m. on Highway 305 as her mother, Kyla, and father, Dino, were driving home from the hospital.
While Lyla is healthy and Kyla is fine, the family said they are lodging a complaint with the hospital for turning them away.
“Lucky for the hospital it was a healthy person giving birth and not somebody that could have needed an ambulance,” Dino said.
The ordeal began when Kyla’s water broke around 1 p.m. The Ste. Agathe couple lives 45 minutes away from Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach.
They went to the hospital around 4 p.m., when Kyla was in what they describe as mild labour. Hospital staff told them to go for a walk and come back a few hours later.
The couple went back to the hospital at 7:30 p.m., but this time they were told to go home because Kyla wasn’t far enough along.
However on the 45-minute drive back to Ste. Agathe, Kyla’s contractions got stronger.
“By the time we got home she was in full labour. Contractions were 90 seconds long, a minute apart, and we kind of knew it was go time,” explained Dino.
Dino called the hospital and was told to come back.
They got in the car but didn’t make it. Ten minutes into their drive, Dino had to pull over on Highway 305 just west of Highway 59. He jumped out of the car and got locked out, leaving his wife alone in the passenger seat.
“I ran around to the other side, and I could see her there. Obviously she was giving birth, and I went to grab the door and it was locked and I’m freaking out,” Dino said.
Kyla ended up giving birth solo.
“He’s knocking at the window, ’cause it was locked and the cord was actually around her neck so I didn’t let him in. I’m busy trying to make sure she’s OK, which she was totally fine,” Kyla said.
After Dino called 911, the operator walked him through how to use an iPhone cord to tie the baby’s umbilical cord.
“So I grabbed the phone cord and tied it as tight as I could, three inches from Lyla.”
He then helped clean up mom and child.
“I’m really proud of him, and of course myself,” an emotional Kyla said. “I’m super proud of us, and I’m just really happy that it worked out.”
Emergency workers arrived 30 minutes later and took the family to Bethesda Regional Health Centre, said Dino. By 11 p.m., everyone was resting comfortably.
Lyla and Kyla have now been released from the hospital, but the family said they felt they had no choice but to lodge an official complaint.
Dino also said he’s frustrated that he now has to pay an ambulance bill.
“We just want to make sure the right steps are taken so that this doesn’t happen to somebody else, right? On top of that, we’re new business owners that might have to pay for an ambulance. This is a cost we shouldn’t have to deal with.”