Clayton Couple Has High-Speed Baby Delivery

KNIGHTDALE, N.C. — It almost sounds like a scene from a movie.

A Honda Odyssey minivan is traveling 80 mph down the highway late in the night with an expectant mother about to give birth.

The father-to-be races toward the hospital, but it's too late.

With her feet on the dashboard and one hand hanging on to the overhead grab handle, mom gives birth.

But it's not a movie. It's how Kiley Grace Pond, 7 pounds, 4 ounces, 19 inches, entered the world.

Her parents, Heather and David Pond, were on their way from Clayton to WakeMed in Raleigh at about 1 a.m. Saturday. Heather's water had already broken.

"We're leaving the neighborhood, and she says, 'I've got this urge to push,'" Dave said. "And I'm like, 'Don't push, close your legs. Do whatever you can do.'"

But at that point, nature took over on U.S. Highway 264 in Knightdale – a stretch of road where there's no place to pull over.

"I could feel that Kiley was there," Heather said. "You could feel the top of her head, kind of crowning."

Kiley is the Ponds' second child. Heather was in labor for 25 hours the first time around. This time, it was three hours and four pushes.

"I just see her reach down, and Kiley comes out," Dave said. "And she just grabs her with her left hand and pulls her up and cradles her to her chest. And we're still going right down the road."

They stopped only once to call 911, then kept going until they got to the nearest fire station in Knightdale.

"As I got close to it, I just started laying on the horn," Dave said.

An ambulance arrived a few minutes later to take the three the rest of the way to the hospital.