From Iceland — Woman Gives Birth Standing At Roadside

Woman Gives Birth Standing At Roadside

Published September 27, 2014

Nanna Árnadóttir
Photo by
Still from RÚV

One Reykjavík woman has ticked off all the badass boxes after giving birth to one of her twins standing up on the side of the road on route to the hospital, reports RÚV.

Elín Kristjánsdóttir Linnet was 36 weeks gone with twins when she felt things kick off on Tuesday morning.

Elín called father-to-be Hafsteinn Steinsson, who had just set off for work, but returned immediately and loaded Elín into the car to set off for the National University Hospital of Iceland.

At Vesturlandsvegur however, Elín told Hafsteinn to pull over at a bus stop. As Hafsteinn called for an ambulance Elín climbed out of the car, feeling too uncomfortable to sit and realised she wouldn’t make it much further.

“I thought, I can’t believe this is happening, this can’t possibly be happening,” Elín told RÚV. “I just had such a need to push I knew I just had to get out [of the car] but I really hoped I would be able to hold on until the ambulance arrived. But that didn’t work out. He was so eager to turn up I gave birth to him on the side of the road, with my trousers half on, then I had to fish him out of my pants.”

Elín wrapped her new born boy in her down jacket and calmed when she heard the baby breathe and cry.

Around this time the ambulance turned up and a half hour later, the second baby arrived though thankfully in hospital.

The birth went very well and the brothers, who weighed 2 kilos at birth, are a sprightly pair. “A little small but doing good,” said Elín, who is also doing well.

Unfortunately Hafsteinn was so busy talking to the emergency services that he missed the first birth but expressed his relief when they arrived.

“It has to be said that a complete sense of calm came over the scene the minute the ambulance arrived,” said Hafsteinn. “It was so wonderful to see them, they were real professionals.”

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