I gave birth outside KFC, so I’ve named my baby after the chain

Katie and Stephen welcomed their son outside a KFC (Picture: Emma Trimble / SWNS) Like many expectant parents, Katie Murphy had planned to give birth in a hospital. But the universe had other ideas when it came to her son’s grand entrance. Katie and her partner, Stephen Kirby, were halfway into their drive to the hospital when the 33-year-old was overcome by the urge to start pushing. Knowing she wasn’t going to make it in time, the couple were forced to pull over and ended up delivering their son in a KFC car park. Baby Cody was born outside a branch of the fast food chain in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, at 9:35pm on August 29. ‘It was definitely not the birth I expected,’ the mum-of-two admits. ‘But it was worth every bit of pain.’ Baby Cody was born in a KFC car park on August 29 (Picture: Emma Trimble / SWNS) Katie claims she’d sensed earlier that day that she was going into labour. She went to the hospital, but was sent home as staff decided she wasn’t far enough along yet. Wary of being sent home a second time, Katie says she held out returning until she began having contractions. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. The couple was driving along the A38, just 15 minutes from the hospital, when the expectant mum realised the baby was coming there and then. Stephen struggled to find a safe place to pull over, until he spotted a KFC sign up ahead. ‘As we turned into the car park, I could feel the baby’s head coming out,’ Katie recalls. ‘Stephen got out and ran round to my side of the car in time to basically catch Cody as he was born.’ The ambulance arrived five minutes after Katie gave birth (Picture: Stephen Kirby / SWNS) Katie gave birth to Cody in the car park, with a ‘shell-shocked’ Stephen helping deliver the baby before paramedics arrived. ‘It all happened so fast. Thankfully, the ambulance was with us about five minutes later and took us to hospital.’ Despite the dramatic circumstances, Cody is said to be doing great and in ‘perfect health’. And he quickly became a bit of a celebrity when the family arrived at the hospital, with the midwives taking a real shine to him – they even ordered KFC for dinner in his honour. Colonel Cody is healthy and thriving (Picture: Emma Trimble / SWNS) Staff also urged the family to celebrate his future milestones at the fast food chain. ‘It was decided that we have to take him to KFC for his first birthday and get him his first weekend job there,’ the mum said. And the KFC connection won’t be going away any time soon, as Cody has since earned himself a special nickname. Katie, who is also mum to four-year-old Freya, says they’ve taken to calling him ‘Colonel Cody’, as a nod to the chain’s famous founder, Colonel Sanders. ‘We call him Colonel Cody, and I think that nickname will definitely stick with him for life,’ she adds. ‘He’ll have a very weird story to tell his school friends when he grows up.’ And KFC is very happy with their founder’s new little namesake too. A spokesperson for the chain said: ‘We’re honoured to have been the place of Cody’s birth and are sending bucket loads of love to the whole family, along with some KFC merch and vouchers to help them celebrate. ‘We can’t wait to welcome them back for a meal to mark the occasion.’ Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk Arrow MORE: It isn’t easy being trans in a male-dominated field Arrow MORE: I’m a landlord making £100,000 a month — young people have no excuse to be poor Arrow MORE: I gave birth knowing my baby wouldn’t cry – doctors still call this a miscarriage