Aylmer mom gives birth at taxi office

‘OK, don’t worry guys,’ experienced mother tells worried firefighters

Aylmer mother Fanny Robert’s third child arrived fast and furious on Valentine’s Day at a local taxi stand, with a little help from Gatineau firefighters.

For Robert, 38, co-owner and manager of Cinéma Aylmer, the day’s drama began with some mild contractions early that morning. “I was not that nervous,” she said. “This was my third.”

That afternoon, she contacted her midwife to arrange for the delivery and, in keeping with a prearranged plan, Robert called her mother to drive her to the Gatineau birth centre. The contractions, however, started to increase in speed and intensity.

What’s more, it was snowing outside and Robert worried that her mother, who doesn’t like to drive in winter conditions, would never make it to Gatineau in time. So she instructed her mother to take her to the Aylmer Taxi stand, where she would find a faster mode of transportation.

At the taxi stand on Boulevard Wilfrid-Lavigne, events gathered still more speed. “When we were in the taxi, I said, ‘No, I won’t make it: The contractions are too fast and too hard.”

Robert called 911, and the concerned dispatcher sent both an ambulance and local firefighters to the scene. Gatineau firefighters, located just down the street, responded within minutes. They told Robert to stop pushing and to wait for the paramedics to arrive. They took her inside the offices of Aylmer Taxi.

“In my head, I was thinking, ‘No, no, no. You are here, and I’m pushing. I’m ready to go,’ ” she said.

After a few more contractions, Robert knew there was no stopping her baby and she reassured the worried firefighters that everything would be fine.

“I said, ‘OK, don’t worry guys. I’m giving birth very easy. So it’s going to go well.”

Two pushes later, she said, “We had a baby.”

The paramedics arrived minutes later and examined mother and son, who were both deemed healthy. Robert and her new son were then taken to the midwife’s house in Gatineau.

It was about 15 minutes from the time Robert left her house until her child was born. Robert and her husband, Yannick Rancourt, have yet to decide on a name for the new addition to their family, the couple’s third boy.

“Right now,” said Robert, “he’s just No. 3.”