A Bristol woman ended up giving birth in a car outside Five Guys on her way to hospital - and her partner made it to the back seat just in time to catch their newborn baby girl. Tiah Parsan was on her way to St Michael's with her partner Kieran Warner, when she realised they were not going to make it.
The couple, from Bishopsworth, welcomed their daughter Kehlani into the world on May 30, in a rather unconventional way - while parked up on the Clifton Triangle. Tiah, 26, said: "We got into the car at about 1.15am and then we had to stop after five minutes of driving. I said to my partner 'I need to stop, my waters have broken and she's coming'."
The couple, who also have a one-year-old daughter called Zaya, believed while Tiah was in labour that, even if their second time took half as long as their first (11 hours), they would still have plenty of time to get to the hospital. Tiah was familiar with the type of pains she had experienced during the birth of her first born and so, after starting to feel "a bit different" during the day, she got in the bath and then at 11pm she says she felt a "definite contraction".
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Tiah, who is a fanbase coordinator at Rambert Dance Company, told Bristol Live: "Within about 20 minutes of getting in the bath, my mum was like 'you need to get out, it looks like you're going to have her soon'. I got onto my bed, I couldn't get off of it because I knew she was coming, basically.
"[In the car] we were on the phone to the hospital and they said we've only got 10 minutes to get there, so I'll make it, which, of course I didn't! We drove for another five minutes and we had to stop on the Clifton Triangle by Five Guys - we literally had her right there in the car.
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"I said 'the head's here, you need to pull over' and then Kieran pulled over and rushed to the back seat where I was, he held his hands out and I pushed her out and he caught her perfectly."
Tiah said that her eldest daughter, Zaya, was fortunately safely tucked up in bed at home with her grandmother, Tiah's mum, who stayed over that night. Tiah had made sure to surround herself with things she loved during her labour, even admitting to starting High School Musical and a pregnancy playlist she'd made - though she didn't make it through it all.
She said: "I only had Zaya last year, so I remembered parts of the pain, the different types of pain, so I knew when I felt that certain pain was when she was on her way. I wasn't thinking about anything else, just focusing on that pain and that it meant she was coming.
"It went too quickly to think about anything else. When Kieran got her, he put her straight on me and I rubbed her back and once she started crying I felt a big relief. But I was still stressed in a way, because obviously we weren't in a hospital.
"We were on the phone to them, so they knew that we were having her at this point, but it all went too quickly to even think. I can't remember what I thought - it happened too quickly. We'd managed to film Zaya's birth, but this time round there just wasn't enough time!"
Tiah said that Kieran, 31, who is a professional dancer and circus artist, helped her through it all and didn't panic. "Kieran stayed very calm and then when we got into the hospital he did a massive cry," Tiah said. "I think he was just overwhelmed with the shock. But at the time he was really calm."
When the couple made it to the hospital, baby Kehlani was checked over and given the all clear. Another stroke of luck for the family was the fact that they kept blankets and jumpers in the car, so had something nearby which they could use to wrap her up once she was born to keep her warm until the ambulance arrived.
Tiah went on to say that she had thought about the possibility of giving birth in the car before, but never thought it would happen to her. She said: "I follow a birth account on Instagram and I see a lot of birth videos on there.
"There were a few videos where people have given birth in cars and I was always like 'oh my god, imagine if we did that, no way, it's scary' - that kind of thing. And then it obviously happened to us and now I feel it's scary to a point but at the same time, it's a really nice story as well."
Lots of students around
While Tiah was giving birth in such a public space, she said that there was some sort of student night taking place in the area, so there were lots of students around but, because it was dark, luckily nobody could see anything. "There were two girls that were asking Kieran if we were alright," Tiah added, "I think they definitely heard the screaming, but luckily there wasn't an audience!"
Tiah said that Zaya is already loving being a big sister and that she keeps going up to Kehlani and calling her 'baby' before giving her a kiss. And, despite the fact the couple aren't planning to have any more children, they say it's not necessarily the experience of giving birth in the car that has put them off.
Tiah said: "We did agree, just the two and then this happened. I think it's more of a confirmation!"
Both Tiah and Kieran passed the spot where Kehlani was born the following day and said they both got "very emotional". They hope that it will become a regular tradition to go for a birthday meal at the Five Guys there for years to come, and a story that she will be able to wow all her friends with as she grows up, too.
And when it comes to the advice she'd give expectant mums around the possibility of giving birth in the car, Tiah said: "You can't stay calm but, at the same time, your body's going to do what it's going to do, so you can't stop it. The best thing to do is just to breathe through it - I know it's easier said than done, but it actually works so well, the deep breathing.
"When they say about having a baby and how long it takes and what helps the baby get out quicker, it's the oxytocin, which is like the love hormone in your body. So whatever you like in general - it could be a playlist of music, it could be a favourite film, it could be a partner, physical touch - you should do all of that when you're contracting.
"So I had my pregnancy playlist on, all of my favourite songs in one playlist. Have that on in the background, so you have something that helps.
"With Kieran being there, it soothed me and chilled me out a bit and my mum was there for my first birth and in the house with me for this one, which really helped. When you're calm, it's a lot easier."
