What began as a typical family vacation in Canada swiftly grew Helen Green’s most treasured journey. The ultimate travel plot twist caught the 45-year-old mother from Bristol, England, off guard while she was on vacation with her husband, Michael, and their 6-year-old daughter, Darcy. She gave birth to a baby in a hotel bathroom without even realizing she was pregnant.
The chaotic and adorable tale, which People covered on August 18, 2025, is an ode to erratic parenthood, international travel, and the sense of humor that comes with fate — especially when a family trip to Canada randomly self-inserts an additional family member.
When Helen felt stomach pains in the middle of the night, the Greens were checking into their hotel in Toronto, Canada. Around 1:45 a.m., she slipped into the ensuite bathroom, thinking it was either food poisoning or travel stress.
But the following events were VERY hard to imagine!
Mom Had No Idea She Was Pregnant Until She Gave Birth During Family Vacation. Then Came the Hard Part: Getting Home https://t.co/mbIVKcSJ5X
— People (@people) August 18, 2025
Helen recalled, “[My] body just took over.” She brought a healthy baby girl into the world in two short pushes. She was shocked but naturally picked up the baby from the toilet and held her without understanding even a bit of what had happened.
Meanwhile, Michael, who is also 45 years old, believed the cries were coming from a different room. He was floored to see his wife holding a baby when he came in. He accepted, “I was in such a daze, we could hardly work out what was going on.”
The family was rushed to the hospital by paramedics. Since there had been no signs of a pregnancy, neither parent was able to respond to the doctors’ questions. Helen said that she was still going to the gym four times a week, had regular periods, and never showed any pregnancy-related symptoms. She had a “massive bump” during her prior pregnancies, but this one was silent.
The unexpected child weighed a healthy 8 pounds, 3 ounces. She was named Olivia.
The Greens quickly learned that giving birth in Canada or anywhere overseas comes with bureaucratic challenges, even though the shock soon gave way to joy. Getting a passport and registering Olivia’s birth was a logistical nightmare.
Helen explained, “All we had were discharge papers from [the] hospital.” The family was stuck in Canada for over a month, unable to leave until the paperwork was completed in Canada. During the week, they juggled countless phone calls and government offices. They made two trips to Niagara Falls and took Darcy to three baseball games to salvage their trip on the weekends.
Helen said, “It was (…) very stressful on weekdays chasing the birth certificate and passport, but great at the weekends when all the offices [in Canada] were closed and there was nothing we could do about it.”
The family also suffered significant monetary damage due to the delay, facing over $12,000 in unexpected hospital bills, extended hotel stays, and delayed travel. They’re hoping most of it will be covered by their travel insurance.
The Greens eventually caught a flight back to the United Kingdom on June 25, slightly over a month after Olivia’s dramatic arrival. They could finally breathe with the baby in their arms and their passports in hand.
“Getting your head around having a baby is hard, but it’s something else when you didn’t know you were pregnant,” Helen believes. “Within a few days, it just started to feel familiar.”
The Greens say that their most outrageous holiday story has a happy ending, though one that they will repeat for the rest of their lives since Olivia is now part of the family as she joins Darcy and Helen’s 18-year-old son, Harry.
