A woman has opened up about her experience giving birth in a McDonald’s bathroom and her fiancé even revealed that they’ll be nicknaming their newborn “little nugget”.
Alandria Worthy, who is based in Atlanta, Georgia, discussed how she went into labour at a Fulton County McDonald’s during a recent interview with local news affiliate 11 Alive. The mother noted that while her contractions started around 3am on 23 November, she didn’t go to the hospital right away.
“I read to not go to the hospital as soon as you start feeling them because they were still 15 to 20 minutes apart, so I didn’t want to be in the hospital pushing hours and hours,” she said.
Worthy explained that once her contractions increased a few hours later, she and her fiancé, Deandre Phillips, went to the hospital. On the way, they stopped at the McDonald’s so Worthy could use the bathroom.
“I went into the bathroom and my water broke immediately,” she continued. “It was an experience because it happened so fast.”
Worthy shared that the General Manager of the McDonald’s, Tunisia Woodward, then stepped into the bathroom to help. Speaking to 11 Alive, Woodward explained how she helped the mother and got in touch with her team for assistance.
“I thought they was joking, and I open this door, didn’t see anyone, but I saw feet [under the door],” she said. “I opened, and she was on this toilet lying back, screaming. Then I knew to tell my crew; we’re having a baby today.”
Worthy also noted that after two of Woodward’s colleagues, Sha’querria Kaigler and Keisha Blue-Murray, offered to help, Phillips came into the bathroom.
“He ran into them at the same time and said, ‘Babe, are you alright?’ and I said, ‘No, she’s coming. She’s coming,’” Worthy continued. “I was like, ‘We’re about to have a baby,’ and his instincts kicked in immediately.”
Phillips told the outlet that his fiancée was “on the toilet screaming” and that he tried to “calm her down” before she gave birth.
“I was like just breathe,” he said. “I got her on the floor, and I took off my clothes. The ladies at McDonald’s were at her front side, holding her hands, I had her feet propped up on my knees. We told her to push three pushes. She was a fighter.”
Within less than 15 minutes, their daughter Nandi Ariyah Moremi Phillips was born.
Woodward went on to note that while the newborn has a name on her birth certificate, the workers at McDonald’s will be giving her a special nickname.
“I said, we’re going to name her Little Nugget. That’s her nickname: McDonald’s Little Nugget,” Woodward said.
Phillips agreed with the nickname choice, adding: “She’s definitely a nugget. My parents loved the name, too. We were like, okay, it fits her. My little nugget.”
Along with praising the restaurant workers for their help, Phillips also said that if he hadn’t stopped at the McDonald’s, his daughter would have been born while he was driving on the highway.
“I was on the phone with emergency dispatch so they were telling us what to do through the phone. That was the good thing that we had many people there – because I wouldn’t be able to multitask, if I was in the highway in the car and the traffic,” he said.
