Baby born in Tim Hortons nicknamed 'Timbit'
A Windsor, Ont., woman who gave birth in a Tim Hortons washroom Tuesday morning says her baby girl already has several nicknames — including sugar, cookie and Timbit.
'There wasn't much time to be scared when that baby was coming out': manager Aaron Hayes
CBC News · Posted: May 08, 2012 12:09 PM ET | Last Updated: May 9, 2012
Shireen Anderson of Windsor, Ont., describes her experience giving birth at a local Tim Hortons coffee shop. 7:16
"You see it on movies, you see it on TV, but I was actually giving birth in a bathroom," Shireen Anderson told reporters Tuesday afternoon, just hours after she pulled up to the coffee shop at 275 Tecumseh Rd. W.
Anderson, who abandoned her car when she could not find parking, said she didn't immediately realize the pain was due to contractions.
"Next thing I know I'm on the middle of the floor having a child," she said. "It was very shocking."
Two employees soon found themselves in charge of a makeshift maternity ward labour.
Judy Glenn and her manager Aaron Hayes helped deliver baby Azauria at roughly 11:15 a.m. ET.
The child, who is Anderson's second daughter, weighed in at seven pounds 14 ounces. She caught her mother off guard by arriving a week before her May 15 due date.
Employees coached by 911 operators
Hayes said he originally offered Anderson a chair, but she ran to the washroom screaming. He and Glenn followed her and called 911.
"There wasn't much time to be scared when that baby was coming out," he said. "The baby was coming out and we can't wait for anybody."
The two employees laid out towels for Anderson, as a 911 operator coached them through the birth.
"It was hard to hear sometimes because the lady was screaming so loud," said Hayes, who added that the frightened mother delivered in less than 10 minutes. When Azauria arrived, Hayes wiped the baby's face and got her breathing .
"I guess Tim Hortons does deliver," he joked.
Customer Hani Safari, who arrived at the coffee shop during the birth, said a woman emerged from the bathroom to say "It's a baby girl."
"Within three or four minutes, ambulances starting coming out of nowhere," Safari said. "The miracle of life was happening right behind me. It was amazing."
Paramedics arrived and took over, and soon transported mother and child to the Windsor Regional Hospital.
Mother taking Tim Hortons jokes with good humour
Laughing with reporters in her hospital room, Anderson said she knows Azauria will be called the Tim Hortons baby and she will be the Tim Hortons mom.
She said her older daughter is going to be amused. Even her Facebook friends were posting about the story before realizing she was the mother.
A gift for baby Azauria, courtesy of the staff that delivered her at a Windsor, Ont., Tim Hortons. (CBC News)
"I'm just glad she's healthy and doing fine," said Anderson, adding that the Tim Hortons employees were "wonderful."
"They did better than I think any hospital staff would," she said, adding that the three of them started off in a panic.
The staff sent Anderson two gift baskets and a teddy bear.
"It's a good feeling that we helped her out," said Hayes, who gave Glenn the rest of the day off.
Hospital spokesman Ron Foster said he is aware of babies born in the hospital parking lot and on the side of Walker Road on the city's east end, but never in a doughnut shop.
"We've had a few calls where the baby wouldn't wait," Foster said. "But the baby makes the call. The baby's in charge."
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