Is there no end to Oprah Winfrey’s good deeds?
Not only does she run three charities, promote literacy with her book club, and give away chi-chi gifts on her daytime talker (among other altruistic acts), but now she has helped a woman who went into early labour at a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Last Thursday, Toronto native Lori McCrindle was in the studio audience of the talk show with her mother when her water broke.
"I was 27 weeks pregnant," McCrindle told Winfrey during an on-air phone interview on Friday, while she rested in Chicago's Rush University Medical Center. "I thought I'd be safe."
After McCrindle’s water broke, Winfrey ran backstage to see her in the ambulance and helped her through a contraction, says The Canadian Press.
The baby was born about 20 minutes after McCrindle left the studio. He was 13 weeks premature and weighed two pounds, 13 ounces.
Though the child is officially named Justin Heath McCrindle, the 34-year-old new mom joked to Winfrey about a nickname: "We're nicknaming him Harpo," she said, referring to Winfrey’s production company.
McCrindle added that though Justin is "battered and bruised" from the birth, he’s "doing pretty good." Adding that doctors are monitoring his heart and lungs, she said, "It's going to be a long, rough road."
This is the second son for McCrindle, an occupational therapist, and her husband, Kyle. They also have a toddler named Jeremy.
Winfrey offered to fly McCrindle back to Chicago for a taping of the talk show whenever she wanted, saying that a woman going into labour on set is a first for the show.
"After all these years, it is not too often that we have a first at Harpo Studios but yesterday was a doozy!" Winfrey enthused during Friday's live show. "It's our first baby!"
Last November, Winfrey announced she was going to quit her syndicated The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2011 after 25 years. She will concentrate on getting her U.S. cable channel, The Oprah Winfrey Network, off the ground with Discovery Communications.
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