A woman gave birth to her daughter in her friend’s husband’s car at 38 weeks pregnant, but she wasn’t prepared for what happened after she welcomed her newborn into the world
Whilst birth plans can be carefully prepared, they don’t always go according to plan, as nature follows its own course. That’s precisely what one 27-year-old woman discovered when she delivered her daughter in her friend’s husband’s car.
She described how, at 38 weeks pregnant, she stayed at home whilst her wife spent the day helping her brother. Fortunately, her friend, Alice, visited her house to keep her company throughout the day – just in case anything happened. She said on Reddit: “We just watched some movies and hung out, and even though I was so uncomfortable throughout the day, I didn’t consider that I might actually be going into labour. (I had been feeling discomfort for ages.)
“At some point, we did realise this was the real deal and I called my wife. We considered waiting until she got back, but things started to get real very fast and I asked Alice to drive me to the hospital. (She was fine with this, I think.)”.
However, they failed to reach the hospital in time, and she ended up delivering her daughter in the car.
Whilst she’s grateful everyone is well, she says Alice has been “weird” with her ever since her daughter arrived into the world.
She added: “We’re both fine, luckily. I had a few complications, which are now okay again. Our baby is beyond perfect and, though my wife is having a hard time having missed her birth, we have a wonderful tiny human to focus on.
“Things have been really messed up with Alice and her husband, though, and I don’t know how to solve it.
“Two days after all that happened, I sent her a message thanking her again for everything she had done and told her (lighthearted but sincere) to please send me a bill for having the car cleaned. She didn’t reply for a while and, in the end, just ‘liked’ the message.
“I’ve messaged her a few times since and she hasn’t replied, and her husband sent me a message saying not to message her and congratulating us on the baby, but thanking me sarcastically for ‘f***ing up’ his car.”
In response to the confusion, she sent another message apologising for the situation – both the trauma it might have caused Alice and the mess it created in the car – and offered to pay for therapy and a car cleaning service.
However, Alice ended up blocking and deleting her contact information, leaving her at a loss as to what to do.
She said: “I feel so lost and please don’t get me wrong, of course my priority is with my little family right now, but this does keep crossing my mind.
“This is so unlike her. Her husband and I were never the closest (I don’t love how he speaks to her sometimes) but we were still friendly.
“I’ll continue trying to make this right and reach out to some places to get some estimates, contact insurance and so on. We’re taking this very seriously, I promise.”
One user commented on her post: “You didn’t really have a choice. When the baby is ready, it’s coming; it doesn’t matter where you are.”
Another user added: “Is her husband controlling? With his message, my bet would be that he is the one that is p***ed off about the situation and she might be distancing herself to avoid consequences from him if she stays friends with you after you ‘f***ed up his car’. “
They suggested: “If you want to try to clear the air with her, maybe doing it in person when her husband is not there (e.g. a girls’ night or a group gathering he is not attending) would get you a clearer picture, as he might be monitoring her texts and emails.”
A third user shared their experience: “I also had precipitous labour at 38 weeks and gave birth at home, thankfully in the bathroom, but still a lot to clean. It’s a lot of liquid; it soaks into everything and is a biohazard as well.
“For a car, I think you should offer to pay for a forensic cleaning service and expect it to cost a few thousand pounds. They may need to do ozone treatment to get rid of the smell or to replace the carpet and the seat.”