Dramatic images show how a mother of six gave birth to her youngest child in a hospital corridor when she arrived too late to make it to a bed.
Jesica Hogan, based in Riley, Kansas, welcomed her fifth child and only son Max in July last year and has just opened up about her incredible birth story in a new video shared by her birth photographer Tammy Karin.
The mother, who gave birth at the Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas, had contractions for several days before Max’s birth, without going into labor. She and her husband Travis even went to the hospital a first time but ended up coming home for several days of waiting.
No time to waste: Jesica Hogan, based in Riley, Kansas, can be seen in a series of dramatic images giving birth in a hospital corridor after arriving too late to make it to a bed
Fasle alarms: The mother, who gave birth at the Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas, had contractions for several days before the birth of her son Max, without going into labor
Emergency: ‘I reached down and could feel his head crowning with my hand. I looked at my husband and said, “Travis catch him!” Jesica recounted
Fast: When Jesica and her husband Travis arrived to the hospital, the mother could tell her son was about to arrive right then and there
Around that time, Jesica began to worry she wouldn’t be able to tell when labor would actually start.
‘I was losing faith in my ability to tell when I would actually be in labor, and losing faith that my body knew what it was doing,’ she explained in a blog post on Tammy’s website.
Eventually, one night, Jesica started having contractions again but didn’t think they would amount to anything.
She even told her husband that she believed labor would need to be induced, or that she wouldn’t realize she was in the early stages of giving birth until it was too late.
‘I stayed awake contracting, yet again, until about 2 am. It was at that time that I wrote to a group of other expectant and fellow moms, complaining of those very same contractions and my fears of not making it to the hospital in time,’ Jesica added.
Staff: Nurses ran down the hall to help Jesica with the rest of the birth, helping the mother lie down in the corridor and telling her to push
Birth: ‘With one more push as instructed by the nurse, and the only intentional push I gave, I felt the rest of his body come out,’ Jesica said of Max
Quick: Only a few moments elapsed between the moment Jesica and Travis arrived to the hospital and the moment Max was born
Healthy: Max took a little time before letting out his first cry and was ‘incredibly bruised’ due to his rapid birth, but he ended up doing just fine
‘Oh, that intuition is real if only I had given some credit to that voice in the back of my head that night! Instead, I finally decided that I would just drift off to sleep for a bit, assuring myself that I would know when it was time.’
However, the discomfort of the contractions increased, prompting Jessica to tell Travis: ‘I think this is it.’
At that point, the mother felt her water break and worried that she and Travis wouldn’t make it to the hospital on time.
Travis, however, remained calm and drove her to the hospital around 3 am. Things happened so quickly, Jesica said, she didn’t even have time to put shoes on.
On the way to the hospital, the mom felt the baby moving down every time she had a contraction.
When Travis pulled up to the hospital, no one came out, so he ran around the car to help his wife get out of the vehicle.
Bonding: Travis and Jesica were later transferred to a room, where they could get to know their newborn son
Milestone: Jesica said the birth was ‘beautiful’ and she’ll forever treasure her memories of the important day
Intuition: Before Max’s birth, Jesica had become worried she wouldn’t be able to tell when labor would actually start
Pucker up: The couple are seen boding happily, while their newborn baby breastfeeds
Tiny tot: Despite his rather rushed arrival, doctors said Max was perfectly healthy, although he was incredibly bruised as a result of the quick birth process
‘I told him Baby was almost there. I also said I couldn’t get out, I felt as if Baby was ready to emerge. That feeling made it nearly impossible to move,’ Jesica added.
‘He disappeared for a moment into the E.R. doors. I tried to maneuver out of the passenger seat so I could somehow walk inside in the few seconds break I had between contractions.’
Tammy arrived at the hospital right at that time to capture the birth. Travis, meanwhile, helped his wife walk to the E.R. and through the hospital’s doors.
‘I made it just past the second set of automatic doors, into the next hall, which luckily was not carpeted like the one we had just stepped out of,’ Jesica wrote.
‘I know at this point I said something to the effect of, “Oh God, he’s here.” I then started to take my pants off because I could feel my body pushing the baby’s head out.
‘I reached down and could feel his head crowning with my hand. I looked at my husband and said, “Travis catch him!”
‘Without any hesitation, he did just that as I felt my body involuntarily pushing his head the rest of the way out.’
Family: Sweet photos show Max’s five sisters getting to know their newborn brother next to their proud parents
Together: Jesica and Travis reunited with all their children after Max’s birth and happily posed with their little ones
Nurses ran down the hall to help Jesica with the rest of the birth, helping the mother lie down in the corridor and telling her to push.
‘With one more push as instructed by the nurse, and the only intentional push I gave, I felt the rest of his body come out,’ Jesica said of Max.
‘He arrived on the floor just inside the entrance of the emergency room at 3:38 am. Less than 25 minutes from the time my water broke at home, and only a few moments after we stepped inside the hospital.’
Max took a little time before letting out his first cry and was ‘incredibly bruised’ due to his rapid birth, but he ended up doing just fine and the family was transferred to the labor and delivery department.
Sweet photos show Max’s five sisters getting to know their newborn brother next to their proud parents.
‘It was my craziest birth, but also, the most perfect,’ Jesica added. ‘It was not at all what I had planned, but it ended without any intervention, with a healthy baby, and amazing support people by our sides. It was beautiful and I’ll forever love every memory of it.’