Pregnant news anchor stays on air during labour. ‘If I disappear, that’s what’s going on,’ she says

Albany anchor Olivia Jaquith’s water broke live on air during her morning broadcast. She continued the three-hour show before heading to the hospital.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Local news co-anchor Olivia Jaquith went ahead with a three-hour morning newscast even after her labour contractions began and her water broke, keeping viewers updated about the coming birth of her first baby.

“We do have some breaking news this morning -- literally,” co-anchor Julia Dunn said at the top of the CBS6 Albany broadcast Wednesday morning. “Olivia’s water has broke, and she is anchoring the news now in active labour.”

“Early labour, early labour,” replied Jaquith, who was two days past her due date.

Jaquith stayed on air as Dunn kept recording on Facebook Live.

“I’m happy to be here, and I’ll stay on the desk for as long as I possibly can,” Jaquith said. “But if I disappear, that’s what’s going on.”

Jaquith had the option of going home, but she told the Times-Union that she decided to pass the time at her job rather than “nervously waiting around at the hospital.”

“Having the entire morning team alongside me cracking jokes helped me get through contractions much easier,” she said in a text to the newspaper.

The birth of her baby boy, Quincy, was announced Thursday.

The Associated Press