'It was a panic': Alabama woman gives birth at Krispy Kreme parking lot amid winter storm

When Alabama woman Sha'nya Bennett learned she was pregnant with her second child, she had no idea that nine months later, Krispy Kreme would be listed on her child's birth certificate.

Yet when a historic winter storm slammed the South last week, the 23-year-old mother did not make it to the hospital in time after she felt contractions the day before her due date. She and her partner had no choice but to pull into an empty Krispy Kreme parking lot where she gave birth to her son, Dallas.

"With the roads being icy (and) the snow on the ground, it made it a longer drive. We were headed to the hospital and we didn't make it. My water ended up breaking in the car and Dallas started sliding out," Bennett told USA TODAY Tuesday.

Bennett felt her son's head while they were at the stop light beside Krispy Kreme so Dallas' father, Keon Mitchell, pulled over. With the help of a 911 operator assisting over a phone call, Mitchell successfully delivered his son at the parking lot before first responders arrived at the scene. Meanwhile, the couple's four-year-old son Legend was in the backseat while this chaotic scene played out.

"I didn't know what was going on. It just it felt like I was in a movie," Bennett added. "We've never experienced anything like that. So it was, it was a panic. I was in the car just screaming, my son was in the back, asking for my phone to play games on my phone. It was a lot going on at one time."

'We got to make it to the hospital'

The couple were eager to get to the hospital as soon as Bennett began feeling contractions. However, she said the excruciating pain slowed her down as she recalled Mitchell rushing her saying, "I don't want to have a baby at home."

However snow, black ice and below freezing temperatures brought to Alabama by the major storm complicated their trip to the local hospital, she said. The severe wintry assault brought flurries to several southern states breaking snowfall records more than a century old.

"Whenever we got in the car, he was just telling me to stay calm, and he was like 'we're going to make it to the hospital,' and I was like 'no, we're not,'" Bennett said.

Unlike Legend's birth four years ago, Bennett had no epidural to ease the process worsening her contractions.

"That that was the most painful part. After that my head just went blank while I was pushing. I really don't even remember (the) feeling (of) pushing him out. It was really the contractions for me," she added.

Krispy Kreme to celebrate Dallas' birthday annually

As hectic of an experience it was for both parents, it worked out as their healthy son was born without any complications.

The remarkable experience was not only cemented into their memory, but onto Dallas' birth certificate that cites "Krispy Kreme" as the place of birth and Mitchell as the person who delivered him.

Krispy Kreme Chief Growth Officer Dave Skena said in a statement that the chain is thrilled to hear the family is doing great and honored that Dallas' birth certificate is the first they know of with the Krispy Kreme name written on it.

Krispy Kreme is turning the circumstantial situation into an annual celebration by throwing Dallas a birthday party every year until he’s all grown up. The chain will also offer the family free donuts for a year and declare Jan. 22 a Krispy Kreme holiday.

"We're in the business of sharing joy and sweetness, but the arrival of Dallas at a Krispy Kreme shop during a once-in-a-century snowstorm might be the sweetest ever," Skena told USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Woman gives birth in Krispy Kreme parking lot during winter storm