Mecklenburg County commissioner Matthew Ridenhour delivers baby son in driveway

Mecklenburg County commissioner Matthew Ridenhour had no time to get his wife, Abby, to the hospital when her contractions started early Friday.

The contractions came so fast that Ridenhour ended up delivering their son in the driveway of their home.

“Hobson Romano Ridenhour, our baby boy born this morning at 1:23am in our driveway!” Ridenhour emailed his fellow commissioners on Friday afternoon. “Yep, our driveway.”

His wife’s contractions came quickly, Ridenhour said, “and we weren't going to make it to the hospital, so I delivered the baby in the driveway.”

“Fire and Medic arrived a few minutes later and (thankfully) took over from there,” he said. “Abby and Hobson are doing very, very well!”

Ridenhour represents District 5, serving his third term on the board. He and his wife also have a daughter, Caroline.

As for the new arrival?

Fellow Republican commissioner Bill James might have said it best in a reply email to Ridenhour:

“Well, that is quite a story for your son to pass on,” James said. “Glad to know everyone is OK.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Mecklenburg County commissioner Matthew Ridenhour delivers baby son in driveway."