Mum didn't know she was pregnant - gives birth in supermarket

Baby Ezra surprised his mum during a shopping trip.
Baby Ezra surprised his mum during a shopping trip. Photo: Branches Photography

Ashleigh Miller-Cross went to the supermarket for some groceries, and came home with a new baby.

Amazingly the Canadian mother did not even realise she was pregnant, let alone about to give birth when her second child was born in the middle of the shopping trip. 

As she was walking down the aisles Ashleigh began feeling intense pain and asked staff for help guiding her to the nearest bathroom.

"I opened the door and Ashleigh was there and the baby was halfway out," the Halifax store's assistant manager Malcolm Comeau shared with the Love What Matters Facebook page.

"She just screamed at me, 'I'm having a baby!' and I automatically grabbed my phone and dialled 911."

Luckily, the shop had a medical clinic in it, so Malcolm rushed to get a doctor who helped with the birth.

"I peeked back in; the baby had been born," he told CBC News.

"He was fine. He was breathing.

"It's like some other instincts take over. You just don't think about anything else. It's like, get help and do whatever you can."

Having given birth just 10 months earlier, to her first child Mia, Ashleigh assumed she was like any new mum – tired and carrying a bit of extra post-baby weight.

"I really had no idea," she told reporters at a store event.

"I presumed I hadn't lost any weight because I only had Mia 10 months ago, so I mean I didn't grow any extra so it's just the same size. I didn't have any cravings."

She thanked all the staff at the store.

"I want to thank everybody who has offered support, everyone who was giving us things," she said.

"I especially want to thank Malcolm Comeau and the lady who helped me in the bathroom straight away. She was right there with me.

"Just everyone. The staff at the IWK and also the paramedics who came and helped me."

The supermarket asked the pair back to the store and treated baby Ezra to a newborn baby photo in, you guessed it, a shopping basket topped with bananas, bread, carrots and eggs. The family has also been gifted a years worth of nappies.