The journey to the hospital once the mother enters labour can be crazy at the best of times, but for Creswick couple Grant and Adrienne Smith it was all over quite quickly.
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Ms Smith gave birth in her vehicle while her husband carefully navigated traffic on the road between their home and Ballarat Base Hospital on Tuesday night.
“It was only a couple of 100 metres down the road and my water broke,” she said.
Only a few minutes later, Kayden was born.
“I thought I was getting some contractions in the morning but I just went about my day, I went and got my nails done and did the washing,” Ms Smith said.
“I came home and it was a bit after four and I was getting some more contractions, we were in the car just after six.”
Ms Smith said she did receive some funny looks from motorists who noticed the birth taking place.
“I was OK because when he was born he had some colour and he let out a cry, so I thought he was OK,” she said.
“We got up here to emergency and he (Mr Smith) ran in and there were no nurses there,
just the clerks, and I could see him waving his arms around saying ‘my wife has had a baby in the car’.
“There were a dozen nurses and doctors that came out to the car to help us, which was great.”
Ballarat Base Hospital midwife Kay Wheeler said while birth on the way to the hospital were not common, they did occur from time to time.
“Mum was fabulous, she was relaxed and calm but dad was a wreck, he is the first one to admit it,” she said.
“He was looking pale and sort of faded into the walls.”
Baby Kayden’s new sister, Eva, celebrates her first birthday today.