A Doctor Went Into Labor While Delivering Someone Else's Baby

Just as she was delivering a patient's baby, a pregnant doctor in Iowa discovered that her own water had broken, and she was going into labor.

On July 28, Dr. Emily Jacobs, an OB-GYN at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, welcomed a baby boy just shortly after delivering a baby for a patient. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Jacobs is a medical resident who had been putting in 80-hour weeks at her new job, which started on July 1.

"I felt good the first three weeks, delivering babies and working night shifts at the hospital," she told the Press-Citizen. "I wasn’t due until August 24."

But at around 4 a.m. during one of her shifts, Jacobs was delivering her second or third baby of the day when she noticed amniotic fluid on her scrubs. Naturally, she assumed that it was from the patient who she had just seen.

"It wasn't until I left the room when I realized that it was my water that had broken," she told ABC News.

"I was freaking out a little bit because we were still seeing patients and [my supervisor] just kind of smiled and told me to go back in one of the triage rooms and wait for her to confirm that it was my water," she told ABC.

Soon afterwards, it was confirmed that it was her water, and the contractions began.

"I happened to be on Labor and Delivery, so it was a pretty special experience to share with a special classmate," Keely Ulmer, MD, a colleague who helped to deliver the baby, told ABC. "She did a wonderful job and her husband was very supportive. I am grateful to be part of the experience."

The baby, Jett Jacobs, was born almost a month early and, Jacobs told ABC, is "home, happy and doing well."

As for Jacobs, she said that she thinks the experience will make her an even better doctor.

"The running joke in the medical field is that OBs seemed to always have complicated pregnancies and deliveries," she told the Press-Citizen. "But I think all of this will make me a better doctor. Now I can empathize with my patients 100%. When they tell me mastitis is worse than labor, I can tell them I totally agree!"