Grand Rapid Couple Delivers Baby On Side Of I-96

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A breech birth is a hard enough experience for any expecting parents, but having it occur on the side of a highway with no one nearby to help adds another complication.

That’s what Hannah and Kaleb Pluchinsky went through when their daughter, Sophia, jumped into the world feet first. Now they’ve started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for Hannah and Sophia’s hospital stay and to help replace the couple’s car, which was used as an impromptu birthing suite.

The trouble started around 2 a.m. April 1 when the 35-weeks-pregnant Hannah went into labor early, according to a post she made on the fundraiser page. The Grand Rapids couple quickly got into their car and sped toward their hospital.

Just minutes after getting onto Interstate 96, and nowhere near the hospital, Hannah’s water broke — the baby was coming.

Kaleb stopped on the side of the empty highway, and the two soon discovered Sophia was being birthed feet first.

“My heart sank! I knew the dangers of delivering a breech baby. And we had no one around if anything went wrong,” Hannah wrote on the fundraiser’s page.

Breech births have about a 4 percent chance of occurring before the 36th week of pregnancy, according to the University of Michigan. Typically, by the 36th week, a baby's body would rotate in the womb so that the head is in a downward position.

Breech babies are usually delivered safely via cesarean section. Hannah and Kaleb didn’t have that luxury.

Kaleb told MLive he started to "twist and tug" Sophia in order to straighten out her body.

“Never would I have thought I would be delivering a baby on the side of the road,” he told the news site.

Sophia was able to slide out, but she wasn’t moving or crying and had a greyish complexion. The couple were able to call 911 and were directed to the nearest hospital only minutes away, where a team of doctors was waiting and took the mother and newborn into a trauma room.

“It felt so chaotic. All I wanted was to hear my baby cry! And finally after what felt like hours, Kaleb and I heard Sophia cry for the first time,” Hannah wrote. “I felt [a] wave of relief! My body relaxed. Kaleb rushed over to my side. Both of us crying.”

With the ordeal behind them, Hannah and Kaleb are focused on helping Sophia gain her strength. Because she was a breech birth and was born premature, she’s expected to remain hospitalized until May.

“We’re so proud of our baby girl!" Hannah said in a GoFundMe update. "She’s a little fighter.”

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