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When President Barack Obama comes through town, we can always expect a traffic jam, and if we're by his motorcade, we have to stay put while he and his team roll through. One pregnant woman who was going in labor on Wednesday afternoon waited at a bus stop while the motorcade was blocking the street to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but police say she chose to wait.
Robert Kovacik, a reporter at NBC Los Angeles, posted some videos to Instagram, one of which showed the woman sitting at the bus stop with a few other people, including another woman in hospital scrubs, with the caption, "#Obama: Woman in labor on bench as motorcade passes; not allowed to cross street to get to #CedarsSinai."
However, LAPD spokesperson Bruce Borihanh tells LAist that the story was sensationalized. "First of all, she was not in need of any immediate medical attention," he said. Borihanh said that the woman told police officers that she didn't need to immediately go to the hospital and was fine with waiting. There were a couple of nurses also waiting to cross the street to get to work at the hospital located at 8700 Beverly Blvd who waited with her at the bus stop.
"We called an ambulance anyway just in case she was giving birth," Borihanh said. "By the time the ambulance got there, she was already in the hospital."
Kovacik posted an interview with an LAPD officer who told him: "It looks like the motorcade is going through right now. So we'll be able to open it up to traffic and the first thing I'll try to get through is an ambulance, but I can't guarantee..." before the video cut off. You can see the video here:
Others took to social media—some upset, some in disbelief—and even the hashtag #obamababywatch surfaced on Twitter.
A few people in scrubs are there now. Still no baby. Still no #Obama. Cc: @WehoDaily pic.twitter.com/NfGCv8Wc2J
— Carrie Clifford (@CarrieClifford) July 23, 2014
If I were the woman in labor, I would get my attitude on and cross the dang street. What are they gonna do? C'mon. #obamababywatch
— Ashley 🌻 (@ashleythetexan) July 24, 2014
Borihanh said the woman gave birth to her child and everything is fine.
[h/t The L.A. Times]
