Birth of Fil-Can baby delivered by dad at the back of family van

Screenshot (by author) from ABS-CBN’s Balitang Canada

A Filipino family had the experience of a lifetime when the newest member of the family arrived while they were on the road.

Baby girl Veena Gliceria Lezada decided she didn’t want to wait for her parents to reach the hospital. She was delivered at the back of their van by her father.

Mother, Marivic Lezada, woke her husband at 4:30 a.m. after her water broke. They left the house immediately, but had no idea just how fast the baby would arrive.

“Kasi simula’t simula di ko naramdaman. Di ako nag contractions, basta pumutok na lang yung tubig ko and then that’s it. Di namin ine-expect na within an hour, lalabas na siya,” said Marivic.

The plan was to drop their two other children at their sister’s home on the way to the hospital. But near his sister’s house, Jonald had to call 911 because Marivic could feel the baby coming out.

The two kids were there to watch the whole thing and were crying till they saw their baby sister.

“I was on the phone throughout, from the highway to my sister’s driveway. Pagdating namin doon sa driveway ng sister ko, binuksan ko yung backseat, tinanggal ko na kaagad yung boots niya saka yung pajamas niya para makapag-spread siya ng legs niya to make her a little more comfortable and then I did see the head of the baby,” Jonald said.

It only took eight minutes from the time Jonald called 911 till the paramedics finally arrived a minute after the delivery.

“Unfortunately, they didn’t make it there before lumabas yung bata. I had to do it all by myself. But I had my sister and brother-in-law helping me so I was telling them kailangan ko ng towel, kailangan ko ng blanket because those were the instructions coming from the dispatcher on the phone. So I was on the phone like that while delivering my baby Veena,” he added.

Mother and baby were assessed by the paramedics and brought to the hospital. She was 7.9 pounds and healthy.

Marivic said her husband did a great job as he stayed calm despite having no medical experience and in the midst of the chaos in the van. Baby Veena definitely turned her birth into an adventure the whole family will never forget.