Tanya St. Preux got more than she bargained for on a recent trip to a Target store in Gwinnett County.
Instead of leaving with a cart of groceries and household goods, she left with a healthy baby boy.
Last month, while shopping at the Target near the Mall of Georgia in Buford, St. Preux unexpectedly went into labor. Luckily, Piedmont Atlanta Hospital labor and delivery nurse Caris Lockwood was running errands at the same store with her mother and younger sister, according to a Piedmont Healthcare Facebook post.
"Caris was God-sent and amazing," St. Preux said. "She was sweet and caring and exceeded everyone’s expectations. She went way over, far and beyond."
The delivery unfolded in about 15 minutes.
Lockwood’s mother, Lisa Bozeman, noticed the pregnant woman and started talking to her simply because she loves babies and thought the woman was cute.
On a normal day, that would be the end of such an encounter.
But “I had this super strong feeling that we weren’t supposed to leave her,” Bozeman said.
So as she and Lockwood browsed the shoe section, Bozeman kept an eye on St. Preux. It wasn’t long before Bozeman and Lockwood noticed St. Preux was in pain.
She brushed it off, saying she was OK until the pain worsened, Bozeman said.
That’s when the women agreed it was a good idea to get St. Preux, who was also with her mother, to the car.
It happened “within seconds,” Bozeman said. “My heart was just bouncing.”
The group of women started heading toward the door, and Lockwood jumped into action.
“We really only made it right outside the door,” she said.
Luckily, an ER nurse who also happened to be in the area offered to help. Together, they helped St. Preux deliver a 7-pound, 10-ounce boy while she was standing up at the store's entrance.
“Bless her heart,” Lockwood said.
An Atlanta resident, Lockwood said she doesn’t even go to that Target often and that it must have been meant to be.
“It was definitely God-ordained,” she said.
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