Husband ties off umbilical cord with face mask after wife gives birth in hospital parking lot

A Kentucky woman gave birth steps away from a hospital entrance assisted by her husband, who tied off the umbilical cord with a protective face mask.

Sarah Rose Patrick felt initial labor pangs on May 8, but her doctor told her she was not yet in labor, she told CNN.

Early the next morning, she woke up with painful contractions. But when they arrived at Baptist Health Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, the sliding doors to the hospital’s Labor and Delivery Department were locked, according to Patrick.

But her baby couldn’t wait.

“You’re delivering your baby in the cold night air, on the street, in Covid-19,” Patrick said. “It’s the last thing you want.”

With the help of a 911 dispatcher, her husband, David, helped bring their third child, Navi Bond Patrick, into the world.

The final step required tying off the baby’s umbilical cord. But they had no shoelaces or ties. So, David improvised, using his wife’s hand-sewn protective face mask.

After Navi was safely delivered, hospital staff arrived and took them inside..

The hospital told CNN the entrance the Patricks’ tried to use is designed to be constantly open.

“Patients who come to Baptist Health Louisville, who are pregnant and in labor, can always enter the hospital in the middle of the night through the Emergency Room or enter through the entrance to the Labor and Delivery department which is located in the front of the building at 3900 Kresge Way,” the hospital told CNN in a statement. “Both entrances have signage and both entrances are open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Other entrances to the hospital are closed after 7 p.m. until 5 a.m.”

For Patrick, giving birth to a healthy baby despite “terrifying” circumstances makes her grateful.

“These are such scary times, with so much fear everywhere and so much danger, but for me having that, it gives me peace,” Patrick said.