Justin Selph
Dr. Paul Locus, an obstetrician at the Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tennessee, helped Oaklyn Selph into the world, donning a costume that made him appear like The Joker. The doctor sported a green wig along with white face paint and The Joker’s signature sloppy lipstick.
“My actual due date was not until today, but Tuesday morning I woke up and I felt like my water was leaking,” mother Brittany Selph told ABC News on Sunday.
The mother of three said she’d given birth two times before, so knew it may be a while before she actually delivered. She then sent her two children — 10-year-old Brenden and 4-year-old McKinley — to school as they were excited for the holiday.
Selph, 32, and her husband of six years, Justin Selph, didn’t arrive at the hospital until about 12:30 p.m. Halloween.
“That’s when we found out [Dr. Locus] was dressed for Halloween that day as the infamous Joker,” Justin Selph, 33, told ABC News. “We couldn’t help but laugh when he walked in the room.”
The doctor told the parents it’d be a while before Selph actually gave birth, the couple told ABC News, adding that he planned to give out candy at his home then return to the hospital without his costume.
“But I told him, if he came back in it, it’s OK. That’d be a pretty cool story to tell,” Brittany Selph of Waverly, Tennessee, added.
Around 8:20 p.m., she gave birth to her third child. Locus — still in his costume — later handed Justin Selph the scissors to cut Oaklyn’s umbilical cord.
“It was a good laugh,” the proud mother said of her festive delivery. “It was all in good fun and it was Halloween.”
Justin Selph added, “The next morning, he came in to check on Brittany, and he said, ‘Sorry I couldn’t make it in last night, glad to see the delivery went well.’ [He was] joking of course. He also gave her a card of congratulations, and he signed it ‘Dr. Joker.'”
The hospital declined to comment on the incident other than to confirm that it happened.
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