Woman Gives Birth on Subway Train

[chadlnc]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030730/ap_on_re_us/subway_baby_1

Woman Gives Birth on Subway Train
Wed Jul 30, 3:15 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

BOSTON - A woman gave birth to a boy Wednesday morning on a subway train in Boston, transit police said.

Passengers said the mother quietly declined their assistance while she was in labor on the full rush-hour train, said Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority Lt. Gary Fredericks. He met the train at the JFK stop on the Red Line after train commuters used cell phones to call for help.

"She didn't tell anybody, didn't say a word," about the birth, Fredericks said. "Next thing they knew the baby was on the floor."

The woman had just gotten off the train with the baby when officers arrived, he said.

The mother — whom Fredericks identified as Joyce Judge, 43, of Braintree — and baby were taken to Boston Medical Center. Police said both were doing well but no other information was being given.

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There was a longer article in our local paper, I'll see if I can find it online. It is the craziest story I have heard in a while.

[chadlnc]

Ok, this article has a lot more details,

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Passenger gives birth on subway while refusing aid
Baby OK after he `hit the floor sideways' as other riders watched
C. KALIMAH REDD AND MAC DANIEL
Boston Globe

BOSTON - A 42-year-old woman gave birth to a baby boy while standing on an inbound subway train Wednesday morning. Stunned passengers said they heard her moan and, seconds later, looked down to find a baby on the floor.

Witnesses told police that Joyce Judge, a former nurse from Braintree, Mass., who later said she was on the way to a Boston hospital, repeatedly refused help during and after the delivery. " `Thanks for your concern -- we're OK,' " she said, according to Chris Chin of Duxbury, Mass.

Standing a few feet away from Judge, Chin said he saw her tie the umbilical cord in a knot and wrap the baby in a silk scarf. "She cradled the baby in one arm and grabbed the handrail with the other and continued to ride the (subway) and stare out the window."

Metro Boston Transit Authority officials said they received a call from the train operator for medical assistance and had a transit authority official waiting at the JFK-UMass station on the platform when the train arrived.

But Judge refused help and sprinted up a flight of stairs toward the turnstiles, said transit authority Lieutenant Gary Fredericks. She then grabbed some newspaper to wrap up the baby, ran across the platform toward Morrissey Boulevard and hustled up another flight of stairs to the Columbia Road overpass.

Transit police intercepted her and took the baby boy, who was breathing and kicking but not crying. As two officers examined the baby in the front seat of a police SUV, Fredericks said Judge pounded on their backs and screamed: "Let me see!"

Mother and child were doing fine Wednesday at Boston Medical Center, authorities said. The state Department of Social Services are investigating.

At the hospital, Judge told a reporter how she woke up at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday and felt sick, so she decided to go to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton.

But once she was on the train in North Quincy, she felt the baby coming.

"It wasn't too painful -- it happened so fast," Judge said.

People started screaming, she said. When asked why she refused help, she said: "They couldn't do anything on the train, so I thought it was better to get to the hospital."

Passengers said they were startled by the chain of events.

After the train left North Quincy, around 7:20 a.m., passengers reported hearing a muffled groan. Judge, dressed in a pink velour top and matching skirt, stood in the middle of the fourth car.

"I saw a head, then full baby fall out from her skirt, hit the floor sideways and slide the length of the doorway, stopping when he bumped up against the next row of seats," Chin said. "Still she stared out the window. Either she didn't know it happened or didn't want to acknowledge it."

Judge bent down, picked up the baby and wrapped it in her scarf, Chin said.

As passengers slowly realized what had happened, witnesses said the train rallied around the mother. People offered sweaters and implored her to sit or lie down. Still, Judge refused.

"I'm fine," she repeated throughout the trip. "I'm fine."

With the JFK-UMass stop still three minutes away, passengers, some of whom vomited in the wake of the bloody birth, inundated state police with cell phone calls.

Lisa Judge of Rhode Island, who visited her sister Wednesday, said Joyce Judge didn't realize how near birth she was. "She said she thought she could make it" to the hospital, Lisa Judge said.

Marie Judge of Roxbury, Mass., said her daughter seemed stressed and only admitted she was pregnant a month ago.

Boston's Department of Social Services, which has no record of prior contact with the family, placed Joyce Judge's two other children -- ages 15 and 11 -- in temporary custody. A department spokesman said the baby will not be released to Judge, who said she works for Boston Public Schools in food and nutritional services, unless the agency is convinced she can care for the child.

The hospital is conducting a psychiatric evaluation.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/6423575.htm

[ski]

Wow... that baby just popped out with no assistance?

At least it'll make a good story to tell the kid when he grows up :)

[DankNstickY]

woah... thats kinda freaky. just the way she was acting about the whole thing, kinda eery.

especially this part:
"I saw a head, then full baby fall out from her skirt, hit the floor sideways and slide the length of the doorway, stopping when he bumped up against the next row of seats," Chin said. "Still she stared out the window. Either she didn't know it happened or didn't want to acknowledge it."

its like... wtf lady... your baby just slid all over the oh-so-clean floor. :hmm:

[theorangeone]

Makes me glad that yesterday was not a day that I had to travel into Boston. Altho I probably would've been on the green line anyway, but still. yuck

[Speedfreak]

She better not hold the long and painful labor against that kid like most mothers do. ;)

[Merlin]

She was most likely trying to keep it on the downlow since the baby obviously didn't pay his fare.

[Kevster]

After the first, it is usually much easier for women to give birth. A friend's wife told me she practically laughed out her 2nd son - the total time from onset of labor to birth was only a couple of hours and it apparently wasn't that painful at all (then again she has natural 38" hips so it's a LOT easier I would guess).

[nickel]

She was most likely trying to keep it on the downlow since the baby obviously didn't pay his fare.


:heh:

that is a seriously messed up story tho.

[WhiskeyPapa]

I heard this on the radio. The last line of the story was "no word on whether charges will be filed."

CHARGES?? It's not like the lady did anything illegal! Maybe not too smart, but when you're having a baby, I'll give you a pass if you're not thinking straight...

[Dirty Sanchez]

Originally posted by kb0wwp
I heard this on the radio. The last line of the story was "no word on whether charges will be filed."

CHARGES?? It's not like the lady did anything illegal! Maybe not too smart, but when you're having a baby, I'll give you a pass if you're not thinking straight...

If a mother can get arrested for simply breastfeeding her baby in public, I wouldn't put it past them.

[hapoo]

everytime i've talked to a woman about giving birth they always go into detail about how horribly painfull it is and how its "the worst pain you can have without passing out", then i hear stuff like this happening :confused:

[Cubsfan]

Wow, just let your kid drop onto a subway floor? That can't be in anyway healthy for the kid! And then just let it slide until it hits something. Just wrong...

[Dirty Sanchez]

Originally posted by Cubsfan
Wow, just let your kid drop onto a subway floor? That can't be in anyway healthy for the kid! And then just let it slide until it hits something. Just wrong...

Drop your kid too many times and he'll turn into Sloth from the Goonies.

[Jenny]

What about the umbilical cord??

[InfiniteNothing]

How did that baby get across the floor?

[GraingerGuy]

Originally posted by chadlnc

Standing a few feet away from Judge, Chin said he saw her tie the umbilical cord in a knot and wrap the baby in a silk scarf. "She cradled the baby in one arm and grabbed the handrail with the other and continued to ride the (subway) and stare out the window."


That's what happened to the umbilical cord.....:eek2:

[chrissy]

Originally posted by hapoo
everytime i've talked to a woman about giving birth they always go into detail about how horribly painfull it is and how its "the worst pain you can have without passing out", then i hear stuff like this happening :confused:

It's not that painful. but then again, every person has a different threshold for pain. myself, both Audie and Mikey were born without any pain meds. It's done all the time. I mean, I felt pain, but it is more like a strong pressure. My aunt discribed her labor as strong gas like cramps. :shrug: Mine were a little stronger than that.

As for her, shock normally happens after the birth. When the baby hit the floor (it's actually easier to birth standing than in a horizontal position because gravity kicks in -- but squatting is a preferred way because it spreads the hips), she was probably in shock and that is why she continued to stare out the window. It's doesn't say how long she stared -- it could have been just seconds but seemed like forever to the other people (now in shock) on the train. She apparently was trained in some sort of fashion the second article said she was a former nurse and she probably did feel confident that she would make it to the hospital.

With Mikey, I didn't want to go to the hospital for hours. My neighbor Teri and my husband had to talk me into it -- I didn't feel ready. The hospital for me at that time was about 20- 30 minutes away depending on traffic. I was only there for 90 minutes when I started to deliver Mikey.

Would her situation been any different in the back seat of a car? taxi?

I just saw another story out of Florida about a woman who gave birth to a baby in a bush along a road. A passerby stopped when she heared the baby and called for help. The mom was nearby cleaning herself up denying the child was hers. IMO, this woman needs more help than the first. http://www.nbc6.net/news/2373355/detail.html

[Joshua]

OK, no more bloody (literally) labor stories.. :puke:

[Airencracken]

heh heh the kid was going through a canal in a tunnel.....