Tesla Autopilot Aids in Delivery of Baby in Model X

Photo: The Philadelphia Inquirer

The technologies developed and used by Tesla in its cars have long been renowned as irreplaceable assistants. Especially a lot of positive feedback from customers has been received about the Autopilot function, which is used daily by hundreds of thousands of Tesla owners. This time, thanks to Autopilot, a baby was born right in a Tesla Model X.

In September 2021, a rather atypical situation unfolded for the Yiran and Keating Sherry family. Their baby daughter was born right in their Tesla Model X, driven by Autopilot. While in the hospital, the baby, whom her parents named Maeve, was called “the Tesla baby” by the nursing staff. The family shared details of that day with the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Sherry family say they knew that their baby would likely be born that day, but did not expect such a quick appearance. During the morning hassle of preparing her son Rafa for preschool, Yiran's water broke and the family got into their Tesla Model X to rush the woman to the hospital. Yiran crouched on the floor in front of the front passenger seat as she suffered severely from contractions, while Keating struggled to get her quickly to the hospital in rush-hour traffic.

“She was squeezing my hand to the point where I thought she was going to shatter it,” Keating recalls. “I was [saying to] Yiran, ‘OK, focus on your breathing.’ That was advice to myself, as well. My adrenaline was pumping.”

It was a very stressful situation that required Keating to help his wife, but his entire attention was focused on driving. However, Keating realized that he was in a Tesla, so he immediately turned on Autopilot to get help from advanced technologies designed to make life easier for owners of the manufacturer's cars. Although his focus was still required for driving, Keating was able to focus more on his wife and helping her. Now he is so deeply grateful to Tesla and its engineers for developing Autopilot.

“It was empty and zen...for a microsecond!” he says. “Followed by ‘Don’t screw this up! Did Yiran just shatter my right hand? Blinkers or autopilot? Let’s do both. Thank you genius Tesla engineers for your brilliant design of autopilot! Are we still 16 minutes out? It feels like we’ve been stuck on 16 minutes for hours!”

Although the drive from their home to the hospital took only 20 minutes, their daughter couldn't wait any longer and was born right in Model X. When the couple arrived at the hospital, Yiran said, “Oh, my God, Keating. She’s out.” The umbilical cord was also cut right in the front seat of the car, the technology of which helped the baby to be born.

This story demonstrates how useful Autopilot is, and is sometimes completely irreplaceable. The woman desperately needed her husband's support while giving birth to their daughter. For Keating, who was driving on a congested road at the time, it was extremely stressful. In such a situation, his attention simply could not be completely focused on the road, which could ultimately lead to an accident. Tesla Autopilot took over the driving function and safely took the family to the hospital.

© 2021, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter

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