A woman gave birth in a car while she and her husband were stuck in Atlanta’s traffic along Interstate 75, reports show,
The two parents said the mom went into labor on their way to the hospital, and before they were able to exit the expressway, her water broke and their bundle of joy arrived.
Loston and Deshai Fudd’s new infant, Dariya Denise, will hear about how dramatic her birth was for the rest of her life and how she, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is among the very small percentage of Americans to be born outside of a hospital or birthing center. She will not have to imagine because her mother filmed the aftermath and posted it on TikTok.
In a 59-second clip posted online, Deshai writes over a video explaining in part what happened on the November day.
“I gave birth to my baby girl in the car on the way to the hospital. We got stuck in traffic and had to flag down police for an escort. ,” goes the caption read in a computer-generated voice, overlayed with a folk version of “You Are My Sunshine” by Kina Grannis.
The opening shows the newborn trapped in Mom’s pants, still blue from being in utero.
“We made it to the hospital, and she was in mint condition! Thank God!” the mom states on TikTok, adding, “We even got discharged the very next day.”
Deshai shared the baby met her two other siblings, her big sister and brother.
“We can’t wait for her to grow up and hear her crazy birth story.”
In one week, the video has garnered over 9 million views.
In an interview with Fox 5, the newlyweds, who were married in July, went into more details about the extraordinary birth.
“My husband had got off work early because I was having contractions. So, as soon as he got off work I was like, ‘Pack the car, let’s go to the hospital,'” she said.
“We were [on the highway] for about ten minutes. It’s about a 20- to 25-minute drive, and my water broke. I was like, ‘My water just broke,’ and something exploded in my pants. And I was like, ‘Can you check and see what’s in my pants?’ He was like, ‘Is that the baby?’” Deshai said, narrating the fantastic story surrounding Dariya’s arrival.
Loston said he just kept driving, noticing the GPS said that they had 15 minutes on the GPS to get to the hospital. At the time, he thought, “This is bad. Bad! Like, put her back in you.”
Once a Georgia State Patrol trooper came to their rescue, he was able to get them to the hospital through the traffic.
When the couple arrived at the hospital, the staff took them in, cleaned the baby up, and took all of her vital signs. She seemed to be perfect in every way. She was recorded as weighing in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces and was born in Atlanta traffic.
The 2021 Global Traffic Scorecard says, “Atlanta traffic is the 10th worst in the United States.” Each year it is estimated that drivers lost about 53 hours of their lives in 2021 stuck in traffic. In 2019, drivers lost almost 3 and a half days.
Last year, when Dariya was born, Atlanta came in as the 28th-worst city for traffic in North America, and experts estimate 74 hours of their lives are wasted while being stuck in traffic.
Much of this is because three major highways all run through the city: I-20, I-75, and I-85. Adding to this is that the city is the ninth-largest city in the country, with 4.5 million (75 percent of the population) driving themselves in, out, and around the city each day, insurance agency Jerry finds.
Baby Dariya is growing nicely, according to her parents. The 2-month-old has a huge following (via her mom’s social media) online. All thanks to her mom sharing the special moment and the city being so busy.
