U.S. teacher mistakes labour pains for false contractions, gives birth on school sidewalk

A casual day at work for one American English teacher turned into a life-changing moment after she gave birth outside her school on Tuesday.

Of course, it wasn’t what Lindsay Agbalokwu expected that day, given her due date was a full two weeks away.

The sixth-grade teacher first mistook her labour pains for false contractions, or Braxton Hicks contractions, a normal experience many pregnant women have in their third trimester.

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Agbalokwu told KCRA 3 that she woke up that morning with cramps but didn’t think much of them.

As the Denver, Colo., native headed into work, the cramps gradually got worse. It wasn’t long before she was doubled over with pain.

“In the classroom, the pain went from zero to 11,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

“All of a sudden, it was just so much pressure and pain,” she shared with local broadcast station KMGH-TV. “I was like, ‘I think she’s coming now! I think we need to just call 911.'”

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Jumping into action, Agbalokwu’s colleague Marissa Kast put a sleeping bag down for her to lay on, while principal Natalie Lewis and dean Chris Earls prepared for the baby’s delivery.

“I was in so much pain, I didn’t care that these people are my bosses,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle of the experience. “They were my support people.”

The publication reported that there was no time to transfer Agbalokwu to the hospital, despite paramedics showing up at the last minute.

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And just like that, her baby girl, Zara, was born. At two weeks premature, she weighed in at eight pounds, six ounces and joined her 17-month-old brother, Zeke.

“When she was ready, she just said: ‘Boom, I’m coming out,'” the mom-of-two told the Denver Channel. “And I think it’ll be indicative of her personality to come, that she will be a firecracker.

“She’s going to do great things.”

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca