Everything was prepared for the birth of little Artur to take place in a hospital in Recife. However, unexpectedly, the child, whose ɢᴇɴᴅᴇʀ was unknown to the parents until then, came into the world while the mother was on her way to the health unit. The birth took place on Monday (24), in the family’s car, at a gas station in the Pina neighborhood, in the South Zone of the capital.
The unusual moment, in addition to being narrated, was also recorded on video and photographs. That’s because on board the vehicle, in addition to the child’s parents, a doula, and an obstetrician, there was an experienced photographer who guaranteed images that went viral on social media this week.
“I photographed their first birth, which was in 2020, and it was a relatively quick delivery. So, we joked that when she went into ʟᴀʙᴏʀ, we would go soon because we didn’t want to miss the birth at all. We joked that it could be born at home, in the car. It was a premonition that it could happen,” said photographer Deborah Ghelman, who has been recording births since 2017.
She, who doesn’t usually go to the clients’ residences, followed her intuition and went to meet the couple to accompany them to the hospital. “I never go to a client’s house. Of the 250 births I’ve photographed, I’ve only been to a client’s house three times”.
Upon arrival at the residence, Deborah found the baby’s mother, Gabriela Correia, 33 years old, who is an obstetrician, already 9 ᴄᴍ ᴅɪʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ, and decided to take the mother-to-be’s car to the Portuguese Hospital, in the Paissandu neighborhood, in the central area of Recife. Also in the vehicle were Gabriela’s husband, cardiologist Gilberto Godoy, as well as doula Joana Nunes and obstetrician Larissa Gomes.
On the way, due to ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs, the pregnant woman asked her husband, who was driving the car, to stop the vehicle, which was parked at a gas station on Antônio de Góes Avenue, in the Pina neighborhood, still in the South Zone of the city, 7 km away from the place of birth.
“Before the car stopped, Artur had already sᴛᴜᴄᴋ his ʜᴇᴀᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ. In the next ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ, his body ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ. We didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl. We found out right away. It was totally atypical. He didn’t imagine it would be like this. Having had ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs since early in the morning made the delivery easier and faster. The rhythmic ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs started at 11 a.m., and he was born at 12:26 a.m.,”, said Gabriela Correia.
“It was very fast, and everyone was very happy. Everyone was very calm because everything was flowing”, said photographer Deborah Ghelman, who took several clicks of the moment.
Artur Correia Godoy was born weighing 3,485 kilos and measuring 50.5 centimeters. After the sᴄᴀʀᴇ, Gabriela and the baby were taken to the RHP, where they received the necessary care.
There, the ᴜᴍʙɪʟɪᴄᴀʟ ᴄᴏʀᴅ was ᴄᴜᴛ and the ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇɴᴛᴀ ʀᴇᴍᴏᴠᴇᴅ. Both were discharged around 11 a.m. on Tuesday (25) and are already at home next to the couple’s eldest son, Dante, 1 year and 10 months old.
“The penny is still falling from the adventure we went through. I was lucky that my husband is very calm. I had a calm, ʟᴏᴡ-ʀɪsᴋ pregnancy, the birth was also evolving very smoothly, and I was accompanied by an incredible team,” said Gabriela.
