Cathy Rude, 63, of Katy, Texas, was not about to miss a birth.
And on Monday, she wouldn’t let historic flooding stop her from aiding a mom in labor.
“The water was almost up to my front door,” Rude tells SELF.
Courtesy of Cathy Rude
“I was stuck.
I couldn’t leave unless I walked out in waist-deep water.”
But a client of hers, Andrea, was a week overdue and having sporadic contractions.
Rude and Andrea’s husband became concerned.
They needed to think of a way to get Rude out of her home and to thebirth centerASAP.
“And I know her husband was especially concerned about that.
So he came to my street, but he couldn’t come down the street.
It was way, way too deep.”
According toABC, the deadly floods left hundreds displaced and thousands without power.
Meanwhile, Andrea sat in the truck, still having contractions.
Suddenly, Andrea’s husband saw Rude’s neighbor, Celeste, float by.
Yesthe same inflatable swan made famous byTaylor Swift.
It seemed like the perfect solution.
“And [Celeste] knows me and she said, ‘Oh Cathy?
Ill give Cathy a ride.'”
Rude didn’t hesitate, gathering up her belongings and hopping on board.
Rude says she didn’t even get wet.
Once in the car, Rude, Andrea, and her husband headed to the birth center.
The center serves low-risk mothers opting for a natural birth, often via water birth.
Six hours after getting to the center, Andrea gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
“She laid down and rested for a while, and then all of a sudden her water broke.
Twenty-five minutes later, we had a baby,” Rude says.
Thankfully, Andrea captured Rude’s heroic swan ride on her phone, even while in labor.
Rude posted a picture of herself riding the swan onFacebookon Monday.
It’s since gone viral, with more than 500 shares.
She’s never let anything stop her before.
“I would never do that,” she says.
Andrea, her new baby boy, and midwife Cathy Rude.
Rude calls his birth the “swan birth.”
Midwives are trained professionals that aid new moms during their pregnancy, labor and postpartum period.
