SHELBY COUNTY, OH - A young Ohio woman has a lot to be thankful for after she gave birth to a healthy baby boy in her car along a busy I-75 in Shelby County.
DISPATCHER: 911 what’s the address to your emergency?
HANNAH: I’m on the highway giving birth right now!
DISPATCHER: You’re on the highway giving birth right now?
This wasn’t the way Hanna Latimer ever expected to bring her third child into the world.
DISPATCHER: How far along are you?
HANNAH: My due date’s today.
DISPATCHER: How far are your contractions out?
HANNA: These are coming now, i’m about to have this baby now!
Her drive home from work on a Friday afternoon in early November, turned into a road to life along the busy interstate in Shelby County.
DISPATCHER: Are you driving?
HANNAH: I was. I’m done. I’m parked, the baby’s coming. I can feel it. I feel the head.
The 24-year-old mother was alone in her car, trying to make it to the hospital in Sidney. But, baby Bowan wasn’t going to wait.
HANNAH: That baby is out.
DISPATCHER: The baby’s all the way out?
HANNAH: Yep.
DISPATCHER: is the baby breathing?
HANNAH: Nope.
DISPATCHER: Can you kind of stimulate, can you like rub on the back and rub on the chest?
HANNAH: Yep, yep. He’s here.
DISPATCHER: And he’s starting to breathe now?
HANNAH: Yep.
DISPATCHER: Okay. Awesome. Awesome.
Ohio State Trooper Robert Brown was the first to arrive.
“Hello, are you okay? No? The ambulance is coming alright, just keep breathing. You’re okay, you’re going to be alright. You need a blanket? Where’s it at? Okay. Is he breathing? Okay, you’re doing great,” says Brown.
“I cannot believe i just gave birth in the car,” replied Latimer
“Yea it’s pretty wild. Sidney EMS is on the scene. You did great, though. That’s amazing! Just keep breathing,” says Brown.
Paramedics from Sidney got Hannah and Bowan to the hospital, where they were given a clean bill of health. A few weeks later, she and her baby boy met with those first responders to thank them for comforting her along the highway, and to recount their experience.
“It was a long day. I didn’t think it was going to happen that fast, though. Cuz I was having contractions all through the day, and thought I’d be alright to make it to the hospital, and he had other plans,” says Latimer. “My co-workers was like ‘Oh, you can go home’ and I was like no, we’ve got 15 minutes left, and clocked out at 3:17 and had him by, yeah, I think I hit the highway about three something, 3:30, and had him by 3:35, 3:40. I wasn’t on the highway long.”
Hannah said she was nervous, but was relieved when trooper brown and paramedics arrived.
“Once we got there, she did great. Baby was on her chest, just had to kind of assist with her after that. Just make sure we kept her and the baby warm and concealed, and everything honestly went pretty well. Baby looked really healthy right away. Mom says she was super scared, but she didn’t show us any. She did all the hard work, we just kind of assisted after that,” says Adam Schulze, paramedic, Sidney Fire and Emergency Services.
“And then I came up. I was like, ‘Are you okay?’ and he was just sitting right on her chest, just hanging out,” says Robert Brown, trooper, Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Hannah was concerned about her other two children who were at daycare, and credits the 911 dispatcher for helping to keep her calm until rescue crews arrived.
“Pretty much was telling me to breathe on the phone, and everything was gonna be alright, and stuff, and it was. It was just me nervous and angry, and was not ready or prepared for that, at all,” said Latimer.
Perhaps not prepared, but certainly grateful this holiday season for a healthy baby, and thankful to those who made this a happy story she will be sharing for years to come.
“I can’t wait til he’s older to tell him this story, for him to actually understand on what it is,” adds Latimer.
Hannah is a single mom and was 10 days shy of eligibility for paid maternity leave when Bowan was born. Her sister started a GoFundMe to defray some of Hannah’s expenses while she is off work. If you'd like to donate, click on this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-hannah-and-baby-bohens-journey
