14 DAY TRIAL // A British woman gave birth on a New York sidewalk after losing her cab and realizing she would not make it to the hospital in time.
As reported by The Independent, 39-year-old Polly McCourt, from Black Bourton, went into labor at around 4pm on Monday. Anton Rudovic, the doorman for her building, called a taxi for her, but Ms. McCourt's water had already broken and she was forced to sit down on the pavement outside her apartment block. She gave birth to her baby on E. 68th Street in Upper East Side of Manhattan.
“I went downstairs to get a taxi and my water broke, right in the front foyer of the building. Anton knew that I was in trouble, so he walked me to the corner of the street to try to get a taxi. And then I went, ‘Oh no. She's going to come out,’” the woman recalls.
She also explains she was volunteering for the spring fundraiser at the school of her two old children, when she realized she was feeling ill and rushed home. Polly called her obstetrician, who told her to immediately head for the hospital. However, she didn't make it in time and delivered the baby on the pavement.
Passers-by helped Ms. McCourt give birth to her baby girl, who arrived in less than five minutes. People gave her scarves and a coat to wrap the newborn before the emergency respondents arrived at the scene, as the temperature outside was zero degrees.
The baby's father, Cian McCourt was stuck in traffic when he received the call about his daughter's birth. He later arrived at the scene and met his newborn baby. The man says he feared the worst when he saw his wife on the ground.
Polly and her husband Cian named their baby Illa Isabelle after the passerby who gave Ms. McCourt her coat to keep the baby warm.
“She was meant to be Ila Polly... but now she's Ila Isabelle. We're very happy with it,” they say.
Now they are trying to get in touch with that woman, as they lost her phone number in the rush. They want to contact the Good Samaritan and thank her for her kind gesture.
The couple have two other children, Conor, six, and Adele, four.
Mother and baby were rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital in good condition.
It must have been an unpleasant experience for Ms. McCourt, but at least she would never forget the day when she gave birth to little Illa.