With a detailed birth plan, packed bags, and every baby item under the sun, the most prepared parents can’t always prepare for the moment the baby comes. Sure, we all like to believe that childbirth will be easy and comfortable, just the way we dream. Babies have their own plans, and for Natasha and Tom Downing, that meant birth on their front sidewalk.
Tom shared incredible photos on Facebook from the couple’s Ring camera that caught the moment their daughter, Lillybella came into the world. The proud husband and father gushed about his wife, writing, “Never will I look at Natasha the same again.”
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The baby arrived right on time.
According to the New York Post, Tom and Natasha told Caters News Agency that Natasha was 39 weeks pregnant when they were on the way to the birth center, when her water suddenly broke. She felt crippling pain, and the 34-year-old mom knew the baby was coming.
“I had to squat down outside and then my waters break. I knew I wasn’t making it to the birthing center,” she told Caters.
Tom jumped in to help.
Together, the couple delivered the baby on their front sidewalk, and their Ring camera caught it all. “As my husband looked, he told me the baby’s blue and only her head was out — and I feel her pushing backward,” she said.
Natasha called her midwife, who helped talk them through the birth.
The proud dad posted a sweet message about his wife and baby on social media.
He called Lillybella’s birth, “adrenaline-fueled.” But when they heard the 10-proud baby cry, “I wept and looked to the big blue sky and thanked God,” he shared in his post on Facebook.
Tom added, “Natasha has always stressed that birth should be a peaceful and body-conscious experience. The more we learned about hospitals and the birth experience, the more we realized just how much the mother’s wishes, preferences, and natural bodily commands are suppressed by outdated institutionalized medical doctrine in the delivery and recovery rooms. When people hear the story, they’re surprised and relieved to know it was a safe and smooth delivery. But how quickly we forget this is how we brought life into the world for thousands of years well before hospitals ever came along.”
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The mom is her husband's hero.
Tom thanked Ring for capturing the footage of his daughter’s birth. He then gave his wife an incredible compliment, writing in his post, “What an exhilarating event. Never will I look at Natasha the same again. And one day, I’ll tell our dear daughter how she entered the world by the heroism and strength of her mother.”
A follower wrote of the family’s story, “What a beautiful journey. Thank you for sharing the most intimate part of your world for us to gain understanding of what a natural birth would look like. Maybe a book or short film should be thought about? Absolutely a tear jerker.”
