Manitoba mother delivers baby girl on side of Saskatchewan highway

A Manitoba family will have an interesting tale to tell for years to come after an expectant mother gave birth on the side of a Saskatchewan highway earlier this month in the middle of the night.

It all happened early in the morning on January 4. Daina Long, 32, said she woke up at about 2:30 a.m. with what she described as intense contractions. 

Her husband was working out of town at the time, so she called her parents, Richard and Debbie Stechyshyn, to come and drive her from her home in Benito, Man. to the nearest open maternity ward in Yorkton, Sask., about two hours away.

She also called her brother to come and stay with her two children. 

Benito is 256 km north of Brandon, Man. along the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. The nearest hospitals, Swan River, Man. doesn't have an open maternity ward. The next nearest, Kamsack, Sask., doesn't either, according to Long. That means expectant mothers have to travel more than two hours away to Dauphin or Yorkton to deliver. 

Long said it was 4 a.m. by the time they left Benito and figured she had enough time to make it to Yorkton as she was in labour for 24 and 12 hours respectively during her two previous pregnancies. 

But the trio would make it just 29 km before Long knew she was in big trouble. They made it to the corner of Highways 83 and 57 south of Benito where her contractions started to mount in intensity, according to Long. 

"It was at that point we still had some cell coverage so we tried to call the Kamsack [Sask.] hospital to see if we could stop there," she said. "It was becoming more and more apparent with every contraction." 

Long said a recording advising callers to dial 911 greeted her father when he called the hospital in Kamsack, Sask. So that's what he did. 

"It was at that point that I said to my folks I'm sorry guys but I don't think we're going to be making it to the hospital." 

I'm sorry guys but I don't think we're going to be making it to the hospital.- Daina Long 

Long said they made it just across the Saskatchewan border when she told her father to pull over and asked her mom to come to the front of their vehicle to help catch the baby. 

"I was just focusing on the fact that the baby was coming," Long said. "I was feeling for the baby's head."

"She [Long's mom] caught the baby and basically put the baby onto my chest... she started to cry right away which was a big relief."

Long estimates it was about two minutes from the time her father pulled over to the time she gave birth. 

Camden Brielle Long was born at about 4:35 a.m., according to Long. Meanwhile, a 911 dispatcher advised her father to find something to tie off the umbilical cord. 

"Nobody was wearing shoes [meaning shoe laces were not an option] so I had a hair band that I was able to tie it off," Long said. "Baby seemed to be doing okay so we started to head a little closer to where the ambulance would be coming." 

Long said they met the ambulance just 3-4 miles down the road. She was taken to the hospital in Kamsack, Sask. to be cleaned up and checked out and later taken to Yorkton, Sask. for observation. 

She said the roadside delivery was a very emotional experience for everyone involved and believes her mother was able to draw from her experience being in the room when Long's two other children were born when delivering Camden in the vehicle. 

Long said that while it would have been nice to have a closer maternity ward open, she believes it wouldn't have helped in her case anyway. 

Meanwhile, she and her parents now have quite the story to tell for years to come.

Long said she's just fortunate that the whole ordeal had a happy ending.

"We have a healthy baby girl to complete our family."