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Special delivery

Second-time mom delivers her own daughter while en route to hospital

By Lynn Hotaling
Baby Lily Herald photo by James Dukes

Though she's sleeping peacefully now, 1-week-old Lily Irene McGlaughn was in a hurry Oct. 24. Baby Lily was born that morning near Whittier in her parents' 1987 Honda Accord while they were rushing to Harris Regional Hospital. With Lily is her mom, Sarah Langham of Bryson City, who delivered her own baby last week.

Little Lily Irene McGlaughn was in a bit of a hurry last Tuesday (Oct. 24). So much of a hurry, in fact, that she made her debut into the world in the passenger seat of a 1987 Honda Accord while her parents were on their way to Harris Regional Hospital.

Her birthplace? On U.S. 74 somewhere near Whittier, though it's a little hard to pin down since her dad, Bruce McGlaughn of Bryson City, never actually stopped the car.

Lily's nurse was none other than her mother, Sarah Langham, 27, who delivered her own baby while McGlaughn was frantically trying to get to the hospital on time.

The couple left their home on Kirklands Creek at about 8 a.m., just after Langham's water broke, and Lily arrived some 15 minutes later.

"I felt her head, and then I saw it," Langham said. "I pulled, and she came out. I put her on my chest and covered her to keep her warm."

And what was the baby's father's reaction to all this?

"I couldn't believe it when Sarah said the baby was coming. I was only concerned with getting to the hospital," McGlaughn said. "I was worried about what was going to happen with the baby. It scared me."

Sarah Langham of Bryson City holds her 1-week-old daughter, Lily Irene McGlaughn Herald photo by James Dukes

Sarah Langham of Bryson City holds her 1-week-old daughter, Lily Irene McGlaughn, who was born Oct. 24 in her parents' Honda Accord on the way to Harris Regional Hospital.

While McGlaughn didn't stop, he did have the presence of mind to use his cell phone ­ to call his parents.

"I was frantic and wasn't sure you could call 911 from a mobile phone," he said.

"911 was the second call we made," Langham said. "They wanted to know if we were OK and if we had anything we could use to tie the cord."

That's when McGlaughn, 37, finally pulled over. He removed a shoelace from his shoe and tied the cord.

Lily, who weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces, cried for about 5 seconds, Langham said, and then was calm.

The speed of the birth was totally unexpected, said Langham, who also has a 4-year-old son, Gabriel, whose birth took more than eight hours, she said.

"I felt like (the baby's birth) was never going to happen," Langham said earlier this week. Lily arrived a week after her due date.

Langham had been scheduled to begin taking pills to induce labor that morning. Because she woke up with mild cramps, she refrained from taking the pill until she checked with her midwife, Jade Kaplan.

The couple met the ambulance at the hospital exit, Langham said, so they continued on to Harris in their Honda. Mother and baby were examined in the Emergency Room, and spent one night at the hospital.

Lily, despite her rush to daylight, has turned out to be a really calm baby, Langham said.

"She rarely cries, and that's only to let me know she's hungry," Langham said. "She's really, really good."

Lily's proud father agrees.

"She's great. She's beautiful. Words can't describe her. It's a miracle that everything turned out so well," McGlaughn said.

Back to Archive: 11/02/00.