Woman gives birth to ‘Tesla baby’ in front seat of car driving itself to hospital on autopilot

December 23, 2021

Stuck in Lancaster rush-hour traffic, a Philadelphia mom gave birth to her baby while in a Tesla.

Yiran Sherry, a 33-year-old Wayne resident, and her husband Keating Sherry, 34, had been expecting the arrival of their second child.

Yiran, who had contractions the night before, told The Philadelphia Inquirer she knew her baby was coming on that fateful day of Sept. 9.

“I knew,” she said. “I said to Keating, ‘Today’s the day, but I don’t think it’s happening anytime soon.’”

That morning, she was doing laundry and readying 3-year-old son Rafa Evan Daniel for preschool. After her husband put their son in the backseat of their Tesla, he went to check on her and found that her water had broken.

“She said, ‘Take Rafa to school, then come back and get me.’ But I thought: Time is of the essence,” Keating said.

Yiran began to experience contractions so intense she could barely walk to their car.

Autopilot

While driving to the hospital, Keating put the car on autopilot, so he could keep his left hand on the steering wheel and move around at the same time to check on Yiran and Rafa. Yiran’s contractions were at this point one minute apart.

“She was squeezing my hand to the point where I thought she was going to shatter it,” Keating said. “I was [saying to] Yiran: ‘OK, focus on your breathing.’ That was advice to myself, as well. My adrenaline was pumping. I said, ‘Rafa, everything’s fine. Your baby sister is arriving.’”

It took only 20 minutes to drive from Wayne to Paoli, but it felt like two hours to the family. Yiran said every time she caught her breath between contractions, she glanced at the GPS to clock their progress.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, she told her husband, “Oh, my God, Keating. She’s out.”

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A pediatrician happened to be standing outside the hospital entrance and brought the nurses to the car to cut the umbilical cord.

Keating said he was relieved when the pediatrician confirmed their newborn daughter Maeve Lily was healthy. The nurses dubbed Maeve Lily the “Tesla baby.”

Feature image via Black Tesla

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