A woman has unexpectedly delivered her own baby while she was alone in a hotel room in Turkey. And she used how-to videos on YouTube to do it, proving that there’s nothing a woman (with wifi) can’t achieve.
Tia Freeman, 22, a member of the U.S. Air Force, from Nashville, Tennessee, told her story this week on Twitter:
Might as well tell you now lol. Give me a little time though because it’s sort of a long story ????????
— Tia Freeman (@TheWittleDemon) April 24, 2018
In March this year, in her third trimester, Freeman travelled to Germany. She had only discovered her pregnancy in January, according to BuzzFeed, but she had already booked her vacation.
“I was in shock,” Freeman told HuffPost. “I never saw myself as a mom before. I was more career-oriented. That’s probably why I was in denial after finding out.”
I didn’t know I was pregnant for awhile (already in my 3rd trimester) and before you ask the birth control I was on made it so I didn’t have a cycle every month. So not having a period wasn’t an indicator for me. On top of that I didnt really gain any weight.
Me when I found: pic.twitter.com/An5QA3hX8A
— Tia Freeman (@TheWittleDemon) April 24, 2018
On March 7, Freeman travelled to Istanbul, Turkey, on her way to Germany. After eating a meal on the plane, she began to feel ill (as many of us do), but didn’t think that was unusual. When she landed in Istanbul, she realised it could be more serious…like labour.
I’m literally gripping the railing trying to make it through the lines. At this point I feel like I’m about to pass out. I’m sweating. I feel like I have to vomit. I’m going through it. Then I’m like wait a minute bitch are you in labor?!!! pic.twitter.com/p6SMEfunP0
— Tia Freeman (@TheWittleDemon) April 24, 2018
In shock, and all alone in a foreign country, Freeman checked into her hotel, and immediately began searching YouTube for videos on how to deliver your own baby.
I make it to my hotel & now I’m sure I’m in labor. There is no way in the world I’m not in labor because I can barely standup at this point. So I’m in a foreign country, where no one speaks english, I don’t know this country’s emergency number, & I have no clue what to do. pic.twitter.com/sk6k10zdu5
— Tia Freeman (@TheWittleDemon) April 24, 2018
Freeman later explained to The Independent her reason for not going to hospital:
“Not many people spoke English that I encountered at first,” Freeman told the Independent. “I didn’t know what the country’s emergency number was and I didn’t know how my insurance would work overseas so I just decided to DIY it.”
Fortunately, her airforce training ensured she was able to maintain a steady head, despite her heart racing.
It’s weird how focused a person becomes when they’re adrenaline starts going. Because at no point ever did I freak out. Like I just did what I had to do.
— Tia Freeman (@TheWittleDemon) April 24, 2018
Freeman explained that inspired by the videos she was watching, she got two towels (one for her baby, the other to bite onto while she pushed), and filled the bathtub with warm water. Her research told her to push once her contractions were a minute apart.
Within only a few pushes, her baby boy “popped out” and “floated right on up to the top of the water,” according to Freeman.
The next step was cutting the umbilical cord. Again, her research told her to boil her shoelaces to sterilize them, so she could use them as clamps to cut the cord.
As any woman who’s given birth can imagine, the bathroom needed cleaning because, in Freeman’s words, “it looked like the set of a horror movie.”
And then finally, after all of this, Freeman went to bed with her newborn son.
So I clean up the bathroom, breastfeed my baby, and go to sleep. No I do not go to the hospital I take my ass to bed. ???????? so the next day I wake up for and get ready to go to the airport because I already paid for the cab the night before & even though I knew I couldn’t fly out
— Tia Freeman (@TheWittleDemon) April 25, 2018
The next day brought a different challenge when Freeman attempted to board her flight to Germany at the airport, with officials thinking she was performing some tiny human trafficking:
When I get there the airport workers are freaking out bc you can tell this baby is fresh. I legit didn’t have any baby clothes & made him something out of my favorite blue oversized button down (RIP ????). Anyway they thought I was a human trafficker trying to smuggle out a baby. pic.twitter.com/dc0BCDv75J
— Tia Freeman (@TheWittleDemon) April 25, 2018
Once the situation was understood, airport staff were very supportive. According to BuzzFeed, they even contributed to Freeman deciding a name for her baby: Xavier Ata.
“The ladies at the airport who helped me said that he should have a Turkish name,” Freeman told BuzzFeed. “So I asked them for a cute boy name and they suggested Ata.”
Eventually, Freeman was taken to the U.S. Embassy in Turkey, where Xavier was issued a birth certificate and a passport.
And finally, Freeman agreed to go to hospital for herself and Xavier to be examined. In fact, the holiday in Germany was abandoned, and mother and son remained in Istanbul for two more weeks, courtesy of Turkish Airlines.
To wrap up I go to the hospital get checked out everything is fine. He’s perfectly healthy! Lol the doctors were shocked to hear my story. I made national news & people would stop us to take pictures all the time & a random elderly woman grabbed my boob as I was breastfeeding pic.twitter.com/gGp4lJvEvl
— Tia Freeman (@TheWittleDemon) April 25, 2018
Astonishingly, the mum didn't even immediately notify her family.
“They all found out a couple days after he was born," Freeman said.
Sounds like this Boss Mum didn't really need anyone, anyway.