Mother by the bell? Toni Hildreth is a 30-year-old teacher at Old Town High School in Old Town, Maine. On October 8, she expected to deliver her baby in the coming days. However, things never go as planned, and she ended up giving birth to her baby in the school's parking lot.
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At around 2:05 p.m., Hildreth dismissed her students and even said goodbye since her pregnancy due date was approaching. "I was talking to my students and said, 'I probably will not be here tomorrow because I think that I'm going to have this baby soon'," said Hildreth to KDFW.
Up to that point, her contractions were an hour apart but, reportedly, started to get more frequent as the day progressed. Right after dismissing her students, the situation changed in minutes. "Within the next 20 minutes, my contractions went from an hour apart to like five minutes apart," said Hildreth.
Quickly, Hildreth called her mother, Clarice, who happened to work nearby and, alongside the school nurse, Jana Jarson, began helping out Hildreth. And while they expected emergency services to arrive, they soon found out that Hildreth's baby was too eager to meet her mother.
A Daughter, Born
"I was able to get my pants down and then the baby came right then and there," said Hildreth. Right in the school's parking lot, Hildreth gave birth to her daughter. Jarson recalls how Hildreth handled the situation. "Her {Tori} composure, toughness, and focus are remarkable. She's one tough lady," she told WABI 5. "Whenever she gets stabilized, she walked over to the stretcher and she lays herself down and she's like, 'See you in three months!'"
The cherry on top was that one of the first responders on the scene was Hildreth's father. He so happens to be the captain of the Old Town Fire Department. "He showed up and started crying. My mom and I were both in shock," Hildreth said. "He's the first one to respond to a maternity call that it was his daughter and that is probably true. That's some small-town stuff right there I would say."
Toni Hildreth and her family later traveled to a local hospital with Baby Bella. Hildreth was moved by the amount of love and support she received. "I am thankful that my daughters are growing up in a community where people give that love and support."
Old Town High School later posted what happened on Facebook. The post recapped everything that happened in their parking lot and described Baby Bella's birth as an "imperfectly perfect moment."
