A Texas midwife made it to the birth center to deliver a baby by riding a swan through flooded streets.
Midwife supporters know that there are few professionals quite as dedicated to their work. But recently, one hardworking Texas midwife took the cake (or shall we say... swan?) when she used creative means to get to a laboring mother during the recent floods.
Cathy Allen Rude, who is the owner of Katy Birth Center in Houston, had an overdue client and was worried about being able to get to the birth center during heavy rainfall. Her street became impassable—the water was too high to walk or drive down it. So her neighbor, who was floating around on an inflatable swam, allowed Rude to borrow it so she could travel in style and get to higher ground, and eventually, make it to the birth.
Rude got to the birth center in time, thanks to the helpful swan, and a healthy baby was born.
"Neither storm, nor flood, nor being trapped at home keeps Midwife Cathy Rude from delivering a baby," the birth center wrote proudly on Facebook. "She was delivered by a swan float to dry land Monday afternoon, 04/18/2016 so she could meet her laboring mom at Katy Birth Center. No storks needed here! The mom and her 9lb, 12.2oz baby boy are both doing well." Alongside the text were pictures of Rude smiling while riding the swan through the deep water with her midwife supplies in tow.
The post has since been shared hundreds of times and sentiments like "that's dedication!" and "proud to say that's MY midwife!" have been filling up the comments section. Houston locals are glad for a bit of good news in the midst of the floods and others are just eager to congratulate a hardworking midwife on a job well done.
Rude spoke to the response she's gotten since the post went viral. "It's been wonderful," she told Fit Pregnancy. "I've been ecstatic to see that people are getting exposed to the option of an out of hospital birth, whether a birth center or at home, and to the kind of dedication that midwives give to their clients. We really will do anything." And it makes sense that midwives have that kind of attentiveness to their clients, she says, because over the course of a pregnancy, they are together quite a bit. "We don't just care about how they are growing, but about what they're eating... what their stress level is like, what's going on in their lives, because all of those things can affect the outcome of a delivery. Our appointments with our clients last an hour. We spend so much time with them they really do become our friends," she added.
Hopefully, the city of Houston will get some relief soon. As for the family who just welcomed their new baby, they are likely thrilled that they had a quick-thinking midwife on their team who was ready for anything. And it confirms what we already knew to be true about midwives—they're always ready to deliver, come hell or high water.