Just when I thought I'd truly heard it all, I read a story about a woman in China who went into labor nine days before she was due, and ultimately wound up giving birth to her baby girl after insisting on making a stop to use the bathroom on her way to the hospital. You know — because she probably thought she was feeling pressure "down there" because she had to poop, not push the baby out! OMG.
This definitely isn't the first time a baby has been born in a restroom, but it is the first time I've heard about a baby being born in a public toilet pit. Yes — a toilet pit, which is basically a small hole on the bathroom floor that you — well, kind of squat and "hover" over in order to do your business.
If you still aren't getting a good visual of what I mean, then you'll get a much clearer picture after checking out the photo of the actual toilet pit where the little girl was born. It's not entirely primitive, but it's definitely not what we're used to here in the States. I did have the pleasure of using something similar in Paris once, and trust me — it was no picnic. I can't imagine actually being hovered over that thing and pushing out a baby — especially when I expected to be going #2!
After the woman gave birth, her husband called for help, and rescuers came and could see the baby lying in the pit and could hear the poor little thing crying too. They wound up ripping out the other pits nearby so that they could get the baby out. She was in there for about 30 minutes, and rescuers reported her as "a little pale and stiff."
Miraculously, the baby survived and is being monitored by doctors in the hospital for a little while longer just to make sure she is ok. Her aunt says that the family will bring her home as soon as the doctor says she's ready to go.
If nothing else, this story really makes you appreciate living somewhere with modern facilities, and up-to-date toilets, doesn't it? I think I'll be a little more appreciative and less whiny the next time I complain about having to put down toilet paper on a public seat before using it. Doing that sure beats giving birth (or pooping) into a hole.
What is the strangest place you've ever heard a baby being born in?
Image via Micheal Melchiorre/Flickr
