A mother who survived a horrific car crash at 33 weeks pregnant safely delivered her premature baby on the backseat of a different car two days later.
Tessie Heeter, 31, from Fort Collins, Colorado was left with a fractured pelvis, broken ribs and amnesia so bad that she didn’t recognise her husband or know she was seven-months pregnant, following a road accident in 2018.
The mother-of-three came around after two hours and was released from hospital shortly afterwards, but husband Jon, 32, was kept in for a further three days.
After visiting her husband just two days after the crash, Tessie went into labour with her daughter Nell, who was premature and miraculously safely delivered on the backseat of her brother’s car while still inside an intact amniotic sac.
This kind of birth, known as an en caul birth, is extremely rare, occurring in less than one in 80,000 deliveries, and Tessie says it was ‘spectacular’ that she was able to survive the crash and birth in a matter of days.
Tessie Heeter, 31, from Fort Collins, Colorado (pictured with husband Jon,32, and their three children) survived a horrific car crash at 33 weeks pregnant
Two days later, Tessie went into labour with her daughter Nell, who was premature and miraculously safely delivered on the backseat of her brother’s car. Pictured, Tessie with baby Nell in hospital
‘It just felt so redemptive. It was almost full circle’, she said.
‘I look back on Nell’s birth and I see so much beauty that I wouldn’t change it for a moment.’
Full-time mother Tessie and Jon, who works in litigation support, were driving with their son Hart, four, in the backseat on August 24th 2018, in Denver, Colorado, when a car plowed into their vehicle.
The shock of the impact gave Tessie amnesia for two hours, leaving her unable to recognise Jon or her son Hart and she was unaware that she was seven-and-a-half months pregnant.
Full-time mother Tessie and Jon were driving with their son Hart, four, in the backseat on August 24th 2018, in Denver, Colorado, when a car plowed into their vehicle. Pictured, the vehicle after the crash
The shock of the impact gave Tessie amnesia for two hours, leaving her unable to recognise Jon or her son Hart. Pictured, the vehicle after the crash
The mother was left with a fractured pelvis, broken ribs and bruised lungs. Pictured, the vehicle after the crash
‘I remember sitting on the ground with my son in my lap, but I didn’t know who he was’, said Tessie.
‘My husband was screaming but I didn’t know who he was or why he was in so much pain.
‘In the ambulance they asked me my name, the year and what state I was in but I couldn’t answer.
‘They said I was pregnant and I replied: ‘No, I wish I was.”
Tessie, mom of Hart, Nell, now two, and Whit, one, regained her memory in hospital and returned home while Jon remained in hospital.
Tessie, mom of Hart, Nell, now two, and Whit, one, regained her memory in hospital and returned home while Jon remained in hospital
Nell was born in an amniotic sac, a bag of mostly water inside the womb which begins filling with amniotic fluid shortly after conception. Pictured, Tessie with baby Nell in hospital
Doctors later told Tessie it was astonishing that Nell suffered no repercussions from the car accident and the premature birth. Pictured, two-year-old Nell this year
Two days later, she had just visited Jon when she began to feel contractions.
Her brother Logan Herbert, 34, drove her to hospital but she delivered Nell on the backseat before they arrived.
Tessie added: ‘It was very intense. I personally have never wanted a natural labor, that wasn’t something I’ve ever prepared for. I was screaming.
‘I remember feeling down below and I pulled my shorts off and it felt like a deflated water balloon was poking out.
‘On the next contraction I caught her, she was still in the amniotic sac.
‘I don’t know if it was instinct but I felt like I had to get her out so I tore the sac.’
The amniotic sac is a bag of mostly water inside the womb which begins filling with amniotic fluid shortly after conception.
The foetus grows inside this sac and the fluid helps its lungs, stomach, intestines, muscles and bones to develop.
It is very rare for a baby to be born with the sac still intact as it usually ruptures when a woman goes into labor, known as her water breaking.
Tessie worried for her tiny premature baby.
‘She was only four pounds and her eyes were so wide’, said Tessie. ‘I put my mouth over her nose and mouth.
‘She still wasn’t crying. I slipped her under my tank top and she latched.’
Doctors later told Tessie it was astonishing that Nell suffered no repercussions from the car accident and the premature birth.
Tessie added: ‘They said that the fact she was born at 33 weeks in a car with no medical equipment and there were no negative repercussions was pretty spectacular.’