'There was no time': Obstetrician gives birth in back seat of car on way to hospital

As an obstetrician, you are used to seeing all types of births, but one woman could not have predicted how chaotic her own birth would be.

Gabriela Correia, a 33-year-old obstetrician from Brazil, was being driven to the hospital by her husband while in labour. While en route, the couple realised that the labour was moving too quickly and Correia would be giving birth in her own car.

When they knew they would not make it to the hospital in time, they called fellow obstetrician Larissa Gomes, doula Joana Nunes and birth photographer Deborah Ghelman.

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The two women would bring Correia and her husband's son Arthur into the world from the back seat of their car, while parked at a petrol station.

Speaking to a local news outlet in Brazil, globo, Correia said, "It was something very fast and it surprised me a lot. When I saw that I was already nine centimetres, there was that fear, that anguish of the transport process and the fear of 'will I be able to make it on time or not?' There was no time, but I had very good support."

Correia and her birth photographer shared a video and series of photographs on social media and it quickly went viral; viewed by thousands of people around the world.

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"They say that the body makes its own movement following instincts between the pavements. But you have to surrender, speak your power, manifest. And when the time is right, without panic and with knowledge, the light will come," the video caption reads.

Ghelman, a very experienced photographer, revealed this was the first out-of-hospital birth she's ever witnessed and photographed.

"I'm still getting over it. First time I've photographed a birth outside of a hospital in my whole life," she told globo. "It was a mixture of feelings, but I didn't feel afraid at any moment. Everyone was in the car laughing and very happy."

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However, whilst the story of Arthur's birth is a crazy story the family will tell for years to come, it is not the first chaotic birth Correia has experienced. 

Correia revealed her first son, Dante, also came in a surprising way.

"Dante was also a very different birth, he was born in the bathtub…My first birth was very beautiful. I imagined that this one would be overcome with emotion, not all this madness, but it really was and I have two very good stories to tell," she said.