Teacher gives birth in school parking lot minutes after dismissing class: 'Still in disbelief'
Tori Hildreth and her family. (Credit: Tori Hildreth)
OLD TOWN, Maine - A Maine teacher gave birth to her second daughter in the school's parking lot just minutes after being in the classroom with her students.
On October 8, 30-year-old Tori Hildreth gave birth to her daughter, Bella, at Old Town High School where she is the Jobs for Maine Graduates instructor.
Hildreth said she was full-term, but her baby wasn't due until the end of the month, and she wanted to hold off on maternity leave for as long as possible.
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She said she had mild contractions that day, but they were an hour apart, which is why she went to work.
But during her last class of the day, the contractions became more frequent.
"I was talking to my students and said, 'I probably will not be here tomorrow because I think that I'm going to have this baby soon'," she told FOX Television Stations. "Within the next 20 minutes, my contractions went from an hour apart to like five minutes apart."
Hildreth sent her students out of the classroom. She called her mother and the school's nurse attended to her.
When her mother arrived, Hildreth got into the car but then her water broke.
"I was able to get my pants down and then the baby came right then and there," she added.
On top of that, her father is Captain Mike Hildreth of the Old Town Fire Department. He was one of the first repsonders on the scene.
To explain how quickly her daughter arrived, Hildreth said she dismissed her class at 2:05 p.m. local time and her daughter arrived at 2:18 p.m.
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Both mother and daughter are doing well and are at home with Hildreth's partner, Mark, and the couple's oldest daughter, 2-year-old Dianne.
Hildreth said she's still comprehending how crazy and exciting the day was.
"I'm completely in shock," she explained. "Still in disbelief."
Before Hildreth left the school property, staff and students gave her and her newborn a nice send-off.
"I told them see you in 3 months!" Hildreth said.