Woman redefines Labor Day – gives birth in her home before paramedics can arrive

By Brendan Kirby

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — Jourdan Jones gave new meaning to Labor Day on Monday – going into labor and giving birth in her home before paramedics could arrive.

Jones said her baby was due Friday, and she had given birth twice before. So she figured she had a little bit of time when she started having labor pains.

But little Kash Sykes wasn’t waiting.

“Definitely faster than we expected. We were getting our other kids ready to drop them off at my parents’ house,” said Jones, who was resting comfortably with her healthy baby boy at Women’s & Children’s Hospital. “We knew we were in labor, but we didn’t think, you know, that the baby was coming right that second.”

But come, he did. Jones’ husband, Kyree Sykes, told FOX10 News that he did tell her he saw the baby’s head pop out. He told her there wasn’t any blood.

“I was telling her so that, so she would be calm,” he said. “I basically had already – the baby’s head was right there when she said that.”

Sykes said he was on the phone with paramedics, trying – and failing – to keep calm, himself.

“Basically, when she had a contraction, the baby came,” he said. “The head came out, and I started panicking.”

Most American women who give birth do so in a hospital. But it does not always work out that way. Last month, Kaylee Vigor came into the world in a car as her parents were trying to make it from their home in west Mobile to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

Jones didn’t even make it that far. But she said her husband was great during the crisis.

“I don’t know how he knew what to do, really” she said.

Meanwhile, Jones said, her 2-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter were in the house, as well.

“They were watching from the hallway,” she said. “I think everyone was a little bit in shock.”

Kendall Amson can confirm that. She said she was on her iPad, communicating with her grandmother and delivered the news about the early birth.

“I was immediately shocked,” she said.

The grandmother, Gwendolyn Jones, said her husband already was on his way to get the kids when she found out her daughter was giving birth. She said her granddaughter was surprisingly calm.

“I was kind of amazed,” the Spanish Fort woman said. “She’s an amazing child, anyway. But I was kind of amazed that she (Jourdan) delivered it by herself ’cause she wasn’t screaming or anything on the phone. She (Kendall) was completely nonchalant about the whole event.”

For Jones’ mother, Gwendolyn Jones, this was grandchild number 13, coming just days after number 12 and a few weeks before number 14 is expected. She recalls that she had a close call when she was pregnant with Jourdan.

For Gwendolyn Jones, this was grandchild No. 13, coming just days after No. 12 and a few weeks before No. 14 is due.

Faster-than-expected births run in the family. Jones recalled that she ended up giving birth to Jourdan at Springhill Medical Center before she even made it to the delivery ward.

“By the time I got over to the hospital, she was born – Jourdan was born – while I was getting on the elevator at the hospital at Springhill,” she said.

Jourdan Jones said it was a Labor Day to remember, for sure.

“Definitely an unforgettable experience,” she said. “Not the way we planned it.”

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