Cathy Rude, a 63-year-old woman from Texas, made a promise when she became a midwife. That promise was to assist her patients under any circumstance. That might sound like an easy promise to make, seeing as most people rarely have to put their word to the test, but Cathy had the chance to honor that solemn vow to one lucky patient.
"Lucky" may be a bit of a stretch given the circumstances. See, there was recently severe flooding in the North Harris County area of Texas. The tumultuous weather and flooded streets made it difficult for civilians to navigate the streets.
As Rude testified in an interview with Babble, "[The Water] was actually coming up to my front door."
Unfortunately for one overdue mother, the worst case scenario that she had been dreading came to fruition. The high waters made it nearly impossible for Cathy Rude to rendezvous with her patient, Andrea, and her husband at the birthing center as planned.
Andrea, pregnant with her third child, was dilated 7cm and began to brainstorm on how to fetch her midwife and bring her to the birthing center. Andrea's loved ones attempted to traverse the flooded streets and drive to Rude's house in a truck, but the waters were simply too high. The next idea was to pick her up in a kayak, but that plan also failed. All hope seemed lost.
That's when this expecting mother handled the situation with cunning, and grace. You could even say she handled it with grace...of a swan.
Andrea spotted her neighbor, Celeste, aimlessly riding on an inflatable swan and knew what had to be done! She picked up the phone and uttered a sentence to Cathy that she probably never fathomed would come out of her mouth: "A swan is coming to pick you up."
As Cathy told Babble, "I opened up my front door and sure enough, here’s this swan.”
Source: Cathy Rude
Rude rode the swan, and was pushed and guided by Andrea's neighbor, Celeste, all the way to the birthing center.
Cathy united with her Andrea in the nick of time and was able to assist her patient in her time of need. Cathy was actually the midwife for Andrea's previous child and wanted to prove her dedication to her profession and to her parent. “I had been with her for her last baby,” Rude said. “I wanted to be with her.”
Well, she was certainly with her! It would take a lot more than rain for this dedicated midwife to break her promise to her patient.
It just goes to show that through hell and high water (literally), a promise is a promise.
Source: Cathy Rude
Andrea's baby boy was born happy, healthy, and with one hell of a labor story. His mom and his amazingly devoted midwife won't soon be forgetting their unusual experience!
What do you think, Parents? Can you top this awesome labor story?
READ: Diligent mom finishes a college exam while in labor
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