Mom Gives Birth in Walmart’s Toilet Paper Aisle Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

The toilet paper aisle of a Springfield, Missouri Walmart became a makeshift delivery room March 18 as a woman gave birth while shopping for essentials amid the coronavirus pandemic. After the unnamed woman’s water broke during her trip to the store, she warned bystanders that her last child was delivered in just 30 minutes, and Walmart employees and fellow shoppers jumped into action, reported local station KY3.

“We were like ‘Oh my gosh, is this actually going to happen,’” store manager Jessica Hinkle told the station, recalling the moment a fellow shopper who happened to be a nurse stepped up to the plate. “We were like what do we do now? Another lady comes around the corner and she says ‘I’m a labor nurse, can I help?’ and we said ‘Yes, yes please.’ She had gloves in her pocket [and] she was ready.”

Hinkle grabbed a sheet to block off the aisle for privacy as the nurse jumped into action and everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of local EMTs. “Crowd control, [I’m] not like the best with blood so that was my job, holding the sheet and crowd control making sure that nobody invaded what privacy the poor lady still had,” Hinkle said.

Quickly, Springfield firefighters rushed into the store and helped deliver the baby girl.

“They’re the typical fire department that shops in our store, so they were pretty proud of themselves,” Hinkle said, adding that the whole experience took about 45 minutes total and that customers were cheering for the woman the whole time.

“They took her out on the gurney, there were customers of course gathered [and] she kind of raised her hand, everyone clapped for her,” Hinkle said. “You know a feel good moment, everybody’s going through so much and with a baby it’s like everything comes full circle.”

Springfield Fire Chief David Pennington tweeted that same day that both mom and baby were doing well after the unconventional delivery.

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