Woman gives birth at McDonald’s in Atlanta

Alandria Worthy tells WXIA-TV her contractions intensified and her fiancé drove her to the hospital on Wednesday morning when they stopped to use the toilet at the fast food restaurant.

“I went to the bathroom and my waters broke right away,” Worthy said.

Worthy said she started screaming. Restaurant manager Tunisia Woodward went to see what was going on.

“I opened that door, didn’t see anyone, but I saw feet[under the door],” Woodward said. “I opened it and she was lying on this toilet screaming. Then I knew I had to tell my crew, ‘We’re having a baby today.'”

Woodward and two workers began helping. Fiancé, Deandre Phillips, came in to check what had taken so long, only to find Worthy was giving birth.

“I tried to calm her down because she was upset,” Phillips said. “I thought, ‘Just breathe.’ I brought her to the floor and undressed. The McDonald’s ladies were standing in front of them holding hands, I had their feet on my knees. We told her to press three times. She was a fighter.”

Less than fifteen minutes later, Nandi Ariyah Moremi Phillips was born.

“Oh my god, it’s still crazy that it happened,” Worthy said.

“Yeah, she jumped on my hand,” Phillips said.

The parents told the Divine Intervention TV channel they took her to McDonald’s, where three women were able to help.

“We’re all moms so we put our heads together and all dad had to do was catch the baby. And he did,” Woodward said of herself and her castmates Sha’querria Kaigler and Keisha Blue-Murray.

Although the baby’s birth certificate reads “Nandi Ariyah Moremi Phillips,” the McDonald’s crew gave the little girl a different name.

“I said we call her Little Nugget. That’s her nickname: McDonald’s Little Nugget,” Woodward said.

This nickname can stay.

“She’s definitely a nugget,” agreed Phillips. “My parents loved the name too. We thought, okay, it suits her. My little sweetheart.”

Steve Akinboro, who owns the franchise, presented the employees with $250 gift cards. Woodward said she would spend all the money on Nandi.

Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter will examine how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s leaders – and how best to address these challenges. Subscribe here.