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29 People Share The Wildest Things They Witnessed In The Baby Delivery Room
The miracle of birth can quickly become a very complicated and confusing affair when delivery room drama starts flaring up. Fights with doctors, peculiar comments, and even partners accidentally leaving the moms going into labor at home are just the tip of the iceberg.
Reddit users shared the most intense, wildest, and weirdest things they’d witnessed in the delivery room after user u/Roach2791 started up a thread on r/AskReddit asking them exactly that. One thing’s for sure, the thread increased our respect for the doctors and nurses who have to keep the situation under control under these extremely emotional conditions, alongside their actual jobs.
If you think that delivery rooms and hospitals are drama-free zones, then these stories are likely to change your mind. Scroll down and have a read, Pandas. Let us know what you think about these situations in the comments. And if you feel like sharing, why not tell us about the bizarre things that you’ve seen as well?
I reached out to Labor and Delivery (L&D) Nurse Holly D. to learn the secrets to staying calm in the delivery room, how medical professionals can keep the situation in control if there's drama, and how important communication is for professionals and parents.
L&D Nurse Holly stressed how vital it is that medical professionals "remained unbiased and focused on the safety of the patient" no matter the exact details of the situation in the delivery room or the hospital. "Safety in a delivery room for the baby and mother come first above all else. Ensuring your patient is safe mentally, emotionally, and physically during this time is vital. Reminding the parties involved in the drama why we are all here can help diffuse and refocus the energy. We can ask involved parties (not the patient) to leave and return at a later time due to the circumstances of the situation. However, if things become unsafe and nurses are unable to diffuse the situation security will be called," she told Bored Panda.
You'll find my full interview with Holly as you scroll down. Meanwhile, you can visit her TikTok and Instagram for her insights about her job.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My great grandmother had 13 children. Somewhere around number 5 or 6 she made it as far as the front lawn of the hospital and gave birth. The next pregnancy she only made it as far as the elevator and was totally mortified. The nurse on staff tried to reassure her by saying "it's okay, last year someone gave birth on the front lawn." She had the rest of her babies at home.
According to nurse Holly, how we stay calm can depend a lot on who we are as people and on how intricate the circumstances are. "The most effective way of remaining in control and calm in these moments as the patient is communicating with your medical team. Open up to the team about your thoughts, fears, and questions from the start," she said.
"The healthcare team can begin to walk you through common scenarios as well as possible emergency situations before they happen. By doing this it permits parents to ask additional questions that would arise in these scenarios, as well as give a 'sense of calmness' during an emergency," she explained to Bored Panda.
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#2
Workmate of mine is about to become a dad in the next week. His wife has been getting to know the nurses at their local hospital and listening to some of the stories.... One day a bloke came running down the ward hallway screaming for help that his wife was in labour and they needed the docs to come quickly! The nurses looked around curiously and asked him "ok... so where is she?" The colour from the bloke's face drains for a second as he thinks this over... "OH WOW!" and he legs it out of there. 40 minutes later he returns with wife in tow. In his initial rush, he'd packed change of clothes, the car seat, camera gear, high tailed it to the hospital and left the missus at home!
#3
A doctor was delivering the baby via ventouse, a vacuum extraction. He was pulling, and you do honestly have to put some muscle into it, those babies are stuck pretty fast in there sometimes. Anyway, the suction cap came off the baby's head, this happens a lot. The father of the baby thought that the doctor had pulled so hard that he had pulled the baby's head off, so naturally punched the doctor in the jaw, who went straight down to the ground like a felled tree. Much yelling ensued, people holding the father back, him realising that the baby was fine once we pointed out that the head was still inside, unconscious doctor being pulled into a chair, another doctor coming in to do the delivery, the mother crying hysterically. We had to have a quick and frantic conversation at the midwives' station about whether to allow the father to remain in the room. We decided that from his vantage point it may have appeared that the baby's head had been, uh, removed and that he had a momentary loss of reason. He was also hugely apologetic and took responsibility for his actions. The doctor who got punched took every opportunity afterwards to tell that story as often as possible and we all laughed.
Communication is the bedrock of quality work and care. Nurse Holly believes that it should be maintained at all times, no matter how complex, intense, or dramatic the situation. In fact, it becomes even more valuable in those types of situations.
"Communication is necessary in Labor and Delivery between the medical team and the patient/parents. Miscommunication or lack of communication can lead to mistakes and chaos between both dynamics. Communication throughout the duration of the patient's stay should be expected," she highlighted.
"During emergencies in Labor and Delivery communication between parents and medical team should be available. Great practice is designating knowledgeable personnel to walk parents through the emergency situation as it is happening, this could be a nurse. This allows parents to understand the priority of the situation, also this allows questions to be asked and decisions to be made by parents during the emergency. Although the situation is moving fast communication should be kept at priority between all."
#4
This is actually my grandfather's birth sometime in the 1920s: my great grandma was giving birth at home, on the reservation (Apache), and as the labor kicked in full swing, a crow or raven landed on the windowsill. Now, this is a bad omen, it means someone is going to pass or has passed. Needless to say, my great x2 aunts and great grandma's mother started straight being nervous, shooing the bird and whatnot. Bird would not get lost, looked at my great grandma and squawked. Grandpa was born a few minutes later, while someone is trying to get the crow to go away. Crow flies off the minute the baby cries. A few minutes later, someone rode up on horseback to tell everyone that my great great grandfather had passed away about 15 minutes beforehand. That was right when the crow had landed on the sill. Family legend says that grandpa was his reincarnation.
#5
Doctor here, I have only ever 'delivered' one baby...(sorry for formatting, on my phone) So I'm in medical school on my obstetric rotation. I'm doing a late night shift cuz I just want to see some births (labor lasts forever, yo). 20s something schizophrenic woman comes in, laboring with her 6th child. Her mother apparently has custody of the other kids, kind of a sad situation. Police had to break her door down because she went into labor and continuously screamed "I'm not giving birth to Satan's baby! This is Satan's baby!" The doctor I'm with looks unamused and just says to the nurse "sedate her a bit, we'll do a c section if she refused to push, etc". After about 30 minutes and some sedating drugs the doctor tells me to go in and do a pelvic exam and to report to him how far along things are. He went in with me, and then got called out as I'm putting on gloves, saying he will be back in a minute. I introduce myself to the patient, explain what I'm doing and start the examination. I feel a contracting sensation and next thing I know a baby's head pushes my hands out and I'm holding a screaming newborn. I am so in shock I am just staring at the baby and I start to feabily scream, "I, uh, need, uh, some help here!" Everything was well with the baby and mom. I had to throw away my socks and shoes. I forgot the best part, where the mother goes, "what's your name, I'll name it after you!" It was a boy, I'm female, she insisted I give her my name. I didn't want to screw up this kids life so I said Henry.
#6
Baby daddy is so exicited about the birth. We ask mom if she wants to do skin to skin bonding with the baby. She says yes. We go to put baby on her chest and baby daddy rips his shirt off and is stoked to do skin to skin. A for effort dude!
Some time ago, nurse Holly gave me some in-depth insights about her job and how some parents, especially dads, behave while their partners are in labor.
“On average I would say that approximately 1 in 10 are unsupportive and/or insensitive dads. There tend to be a lot more dads that don’t know how to support their significant others in labor, but I wouldn’t say those dads are insensitive, they just need guidance," Holly told Bored Panda during an earlier interview.
“As a nurse in Labor and Delivery we do a lot of coaching and educating the support person to help their significant others through labor,” Holly said that a nurse’s job involves a lot of human contact and communication.
"Their place and presence in the labor/delivery room is noticeable and can be iconic for your laboring wife or significant other. It’s okay to not know what to do, but being mentally and emotionally present is essential," the nurse explained that anyone who is in the delivery room to support the mom is playing a vital role.
#7
This was a nice intense, and for the record, I'm a midwife. In Australia and the UK, midwives deliver the vast majority of babies. Anyway. there was a woman who was in labour with her fifth child, she and her husband already had four girls. She knew that they were having a boy, but he didn't (he hadn't wanted to know the gender). He really, really wanted a boy, not for sexist reasons or anything like that, and I know that he was a wonderful father to his daughters and wouldn't treat the son any different, but he just wanted a son. He sat in the corner, reading the paper for basically the whole birth. He wasn't ignoring his wife or anything, she didn't want him to touch her while she was in labour, that was just how she went about birthing (she also didn't want the midwives to touch her, so we stayed as hands off as possible). When the baby was finally born she broke out in a sweaty grin, looked at me and said, 'Tell him.' I told him that the baby was a boy and he raced around the bed to give his wife a hug and a kiss and to meet his firstborn son. He was crying and laughing and just absolutely overjoyed by the birth of the baby. That was a good birth :)
#8
Oh. Friends a midwife. Baby comes out looking very very Asian to an apparently white couple. Lots of umms and looks. Turns out that the father was mixed race on his mums side and she never mentioned it.
#9
Not a doctor but a fire fighter. Got called for a pregnancy, baby already born. Get on scene and mom and daughter (who just gave birth) are arguing back and forth. Mom summed her argument up best with "I told ya you was pregnant"
"Labor is no easy task, and it comes in all variations. Talk with your partner about their expectations and desires during labor, be adaptable as things progress, and be mentally and emotionally supportive of them. I guarantee your experience in the labor room will be unforgettable and you will develop more appreciation for your significant other during labor,” she said.
"I fell in love with L&D when I had my first child, and I knew this was where I needed to be. I am inspired daily when I work with my patients as to just how incredibly strong women are. I love being able to support women during this time by encouraging, laughing, praying, and even crying with them and still being able to guide them through a moment in their life they will never forget."
#10
Husband was sitting in the corner playing candy crush on his wife’s phone whilst she was in labour, up popped a text message saying “does he know that it might not be his?”. Shouting ensued and he walked out and left the unit with her crying.
#11
One from a colleague of mine. One woman during her second stage (where you’re cervix is fully dilated and you can push the baby out) started pushing. As she did she passed what has been described to me as an utterly massive, 7.5 couric-worthy, that just kept coming. The midwives had to receive it on a large pad and place it quickly on the nearest place which was the baby resuscitaire, as it was still coming. They then went back to the woman to catch the rest and clean up. As they moved back over to her she panicked and asked “is it breathing?!”. They had to get the husband to tell her it wasn’t the baby she’d passed.
#12
I worked as a hospital parking attendant manning the booth. A car pulled up and the woman was mid way pushing out her baby in the passenger seat. One relative in the back was giving her a back massage, one was fanning her, her kid was playing on his DS, and her husband in the driver seat nonchalantly smiled at me and asked for one ticket all while the mother just delivered her own baby looking calmed like it was a perfunctory task. I didn't know what to do so I just gave them free parking.
#13
The way my dad tells it, part way through labor with me my mum said "that's it, I'm done, I'm going home" and tried to get off the table. Mum claims not to remember this.
#14
The baby’s father was caught cracking open the anesthesia cart and stealing meds. When police officers came to arrest him, he was sobbing and kept saying over and over “y’all aren’t going to let me see my baby be born?” and the officers were both like um nope should’ve thought about that before
#15
Ambulance officer here. Got dispatched to "17 year old female, difficult pregnancy. Caller statement: Baby born, didn't know was pregnant. Can't find umbilical cord." Whooooa boy... Get there, healthy baby girl born. Mother and grandmother sitting on floor, blood everywhere. Both emotionally shocked. Umbilical cord right where it should be. Grandmother holding baby, outstretches arms and hands me the baby without words while my partner checks out mum. Grandma comes to me and just says "I thought she was a virgin!" Mother had texted grandmother while at work to say "Mum, come home, I've had a baby." The tension in that room... Holy...
#16
When I was having a c section I was jamming out to Journey looped on the epidural. I noticed that people started walking around carefully and my husband turned kind of green, but everyone’s response was “it’s okay, you’re doing great, baby’s great, just finishing up!” Only after I was in recovery did they tell me the end of the suction tube came loose and sprayed blood all over the floor and everyone was covered in it and leaving [darn] footprints everywhere. Lol, good times.
#17
Father broke down, started yelling at his wife that they can't afford it. She flushes red with anger and embarrassment like "NOW you think is a good moment to bring this up to me? You want me to go back in time for you?" Older child, like 5-6, was in the room too, staring and looking terrified. I tried to calm the father down and he just stormed out. I was delivering a pizza though, not a baby.
#18
When I was a nursing student doing my OB rotation, a group of us watched our first delivery. There was no time to do an epidural because the baby was ready and he wasn’t waiting. After the baby’s delivered, the first thing the dad says is ‘You can rub it my ex’s face that you did it natural.’ It wasn’t a huge dramatic thing but everyone in the room just kinda looked at each other. Like buddy, your son was just born and you’re more excited to one up your ex?
#19
Im a doctor but this is not my story. There was this couple who were gonna birth their first. The father though had already a child from a previous marrige. So when it was time for labour, instead of being supportive and calm and leaving it to the proffesionals. The father went crazy and started screaming ”my previous wife wasnt in this much pain, something is wrong”. That is excactly what a woman in labour would like to hear
#20
Not a doctor but security guard outside delivery room. I just remember cracking up([why?] moment) as one lady was screaming she would not have her baby born on Hitler's birthday.
#21
Wife just gave birth and we asked that same question to our nurse. She told us about the time a guy brought in his pregnant wife and his pregnant girlfriend. The doctors thought that they were going to try and [end] each other so they kept them on separate floors. All the nurses thought the guy was completely awful.
#22
Mom's cousin is with her as she rolls in at 9 cm with her 3rd kid. She's snapchatting pictures of herself posing next to mom who looks very uncomfortable. We deliver baby whom she deems her "[attractive] lil nephew" MA'AM HE IS FIVE MINUTES OLD.
#23
Not a doctor, but my (now ex) mother in law got mad because I didn't want anyone in the delivery room other than my husband so she ran around the hospital hiding. (Now ex) Husband almost missed the birth because he was too busy trying to find her and calm her down.
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