by Oge Okonkwo

Pregnant mom, Polly McCourt had always wanted a natural birth for her third child and she got exactly her wish.

McCourt was in her apartment when she realised she was in labour, rushed down to the building’s doorman who helped her outside to hail a cab.

But it was not fast enough as her little daughter arrived before the cab did.

Daily News reports:

Mom and baby were then rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital, where they were found to be in good health. Ila weighed in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces.

Speaking from her hospital bed Tuesday, the relieved mom recalled her tumultuous day.

She had been volunteering for the spring fundraiser at P.S. 267, where her two older children attend school, when she realized she wasn’t feeling well. She sent 6-year-old son Conor to the playground with a friend, called the babysitter to take care of 4-year-old daughter Adele, and rushed home around 3 p.m. to call her obstetrician — who told her to get to the hospital immediately.

ENID ALVAREZ/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Ila Isabelle McCourt is doing fine despite her dramatic entrance into the world, doctors at Lenox Hill Hospital said.

“I was starting to feel worse and worse, and I thought, ‘Oh, this is not good,’” McCourt, 39, said.

“I went downstairs to get a taxi and my water broke, right in the front foyer of the building.”

ENID ALVAREZ/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Doorman Anton Rudovic helped Polly McCourt, 39, give birth to baby girl Ila Isabelle on the corner of E. 68th St. and 3rd Ave.

“Anton knew that I was in trouble, so he walked me to the corner of the street to try to get a taxi. And then I went, ‘Oh no. She’s going to come out.’

 

“She just came out. I thought I had longer!”

Rudovic helped McCourt sit down on the street in front of the HSBC bank, as onlookers started to gather.

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Paramedics help Polly McCourt into an ambulance after she gave birth to her daughter outside her home on the Upper East Side.

“Anton propped me up with his legs, and by that time, she was already out,” McCourt said.

Dad Cian McCourt, 40, was stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel when he got the call, and arrived on the scene three minutes after his daughter.

ENID ALVAREZ/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Ila Isabelle McCourt was named after Isabelle, a Good Samaritan who gave McCourt the coat off her back as she waited for an ambulance.

“I saw a crowd on the corner, and I feared the worst,” he said.

He found his wife and daughter surrounded by Good Samaritans who stopped to help, even giving the shirts off their backs to keep Polly and Ila warm until the ambulance arrived 10 minutes later.

“There were about 40 or 50 people there, I think,” Polly said. “There were a lot of people who gave their sweaters. I want to thank them.”

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Polly McCourt, 39, gives birth to baby girl Ila outside an Upper East Side HSBC bank.

One woman, Isabelle, even gave her coat.

“She had to go home without a coat on,” Polly said. “She gave my husband her phone number and he lost it in the commotion.”

ENID ALVAREZ/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Polly McCourt and baby girl Ila are both doing fine after their dramatic ordeal.

The McCourts chose their daughter’s middle name in honor of that stranger’s kindness.

“We want to be able to contact her and say thanks,” Polly McCourt said.

Hero doorman Rudovic was back at his post Tuesday, and said helping little Ila arrive safely was all in a day’s work.

“I did my job. (Polly) needed to be rushed to go to the hospital. She said, ‘the baby’s coming! I need to lie down.’ And that was it. It was so fast — one, two, three.

“Mom and baby were fine, that’s the most important thing.”