News Anchor Perseveres Through Broadcast After Her Water Breaks Live on Air: See The Video!
The N.Y. news anchor's water broke at 4:15 a.m., and she anchored a three-hour broadcast through contractions
The N.Y. news anchor's water broke at 4:15 a.m., and she anchored a three-hour broadcast through contractions CBS6 Albany/Youtube
Olivia Jaquith, an anchor with CBS affiliate WRGB near Albany, N.Y., experienced her water break live on air and she anchored the three-hour broadcast before going into labor
Her co-anchor Julia Dunn is also pregnant
The broadcast contained several easter eggs in reference to Jaquith's pregnancy
A news anchor's water broke while she was live on air – and she still persevered through the three-hour broadcast.
On Wednesday, May 21, Olivia Jaquith, an anchor with WRGB, a CBS affiliate in Schenectady, N.Y., announced with her co-anchor Julia Dunn that her water had broken minutes before the news cast began, NBC News reports.
Instead of rushing to the hospital, Jacquith decided to remain behind the news desk, through contractions and all. Jacquith is expecting her first child, a son, WRGB reports. Dunn is also currently pregnant, and announced her pregnancy in March via Instagram.
“We do have some breaking news this morning. Literally, Olivia’s water has broke, and she is anchoring the news now in active labor,” Dunn said at the top of the show.
“Early labor. Early labor,” Jaquith added. “Let’s not get carried away.” Dunn then jumped in to assist her co-anchor in timing her contractions.
“No, well, there was one, but it’s been a few minutes since then, so we’re still in good shape,” Jaquith said.
“I’m happy to be here, and I’ll stay on the desk for as long as I possibly can,” Jaquith added. “But if I disappear, that’s what’s going on.”
Dunn went live on Facebook amid the news, where Jaquith shared that her water broke while she was walking to the bathroom of the station.
When Dunn checked in with her co-anchor about whether she needed to leave to go into labor, Jaquith said, “I think I can get through a three-hour show.”
On the broadcast, her co-workers celebrated Jaquith with sweet easter eggs in reference to her baby update, such as a chyron at the top of the screen that read, “Days Past Due Date: 2.” Later, a headline at the bottom of the broadcast read, “Baby Watch” and “Here Comes Baby P, Good Luck Olivia.”
Jaquith tied in references to her baby throughout the newscast. At one point, she said when tagging out to the program's meteorologist, “If my baby does come today, Craig, how’s the weather?”
When the show suggested a coffee break, Jaquith suggested instead that viewers take a “water break.”
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“Olivia’s water broke, and she’s still here. She’s been doing the entire show,” Dunn said later in the show as a recap. “This is her decision to do this.”
“I’d rather be at work than at the hospital,” Jaquith quipped.
Jaquith was still behind the anchor desk at 7:56 a.m., according to footage from WRGB.
“Whole show,” Dunn commented while giving her co-anchor a high-five. “Look at that. Three hours of news, in contractions. I think that’s a first for CBS6.”
WRGB has not yet provided an update regarding Jaquith's baby boy.