Woman in Philadelphia gives birth in the front seat of a Tesla

A woman in Philadelphia has given birth in the passenger seat of a Tesla.

The incredible incident happened on September 9 when Yiran Sherry, 33, and her husband Keating Sherry, 34, barely made it to the hospital in time.

Originally reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Yiran said she began having contractions during the night and told Keating: “Today’s the day, but I don’t think it’s happening anytime soon.”

At around 8.30am, the pair were getting their son Rafa ready for preschool. However, after Keating put him in the back seat of the car, he returned to the house to find Yiran’s water had just broken.

Although she told him to come back to get her after taking Rafa to school, Keating helped his wife into their Tesla and they headed straight to the hospital.

She was ‘contracting so fiercely she could barely walk’, so crouched in the passenger footwell of the vehicle.

Keating says that the traffic on the route was so heavy that he put the car in Autopilot, which meant he could put one hand on the wheel while checking on his wife and Rafa.

He said: “She was squeezing my hand to the point where I thought she was going to shatter it.

“I was [saying to] Yiran: okay, focus on your breathing. That was advice to myself, as well. My adrenaline was pumping.”

It was a 20-minute drive to Paoli Hospital. As they pulled up she said: “Oh, my God, Keating. She’s out.”

A paediatrician was standing outside as the Tesla arrived and called for nurses, who cut the umbilical cord in the car. Keating said: “Once the paediatrician said, ‘She’s healthy. Congratulations,’ that was quite the sigh of relief.”

The newborn is called Maeve Lily, though the parents considered the middle name ‘Tess’ in homage to the car she was born in. The nurses at the hospital had also referred to her as ‘the Tesla baby’.