In the 24 years she has been a midwife, Cathy Rude has braved her share of storms and flooding to get to a laboring patient. But last week was the first time the 63-year-old faced flood waters so high that her only way to work was to hitch a ride on an inflatable swan.

Courtesy of Andrea Haley

Rude has been a midwife for twenty-four years, and says she has waded through flood waters in the past to deliver babies, but never in waters as deep as she saw during the recent flooding to her town.

Rude says the flood waters on her Katy, Texas street were up to her waist, making it impossible to transport her birthing supplies without damaging them. When she learned her patient, Andrea Haley, had been having contractions for several days and was approaching active labor, the two women began planning a way to get Rude to the birthing center for the delivery.

“I was concerned, as she was, that if her water were to break, things would happen very quickly,” Rude told TODAY Parents. “So, we started asking how I was going to get out of the house if that happened.”

Courtesy of Andrea Haley

When Haley spotted a neighbor of Rude’s floating down the street on an inflatable swan, she explained that she was in labor and asked the woman to help her midwife get to a less flooded area.

As Haley’s labor progressed, she drove with her mother and her husband, Daniel, to attempt to pick Rude up in their truck. When they arrived in Rude’s neighborhood, however, they learned that it would be impossible to get down the street due to the floodwaters. After being unable to get in touch with friends who owned a kayak, Haley spotted a woman on a large, white swan drifting down the flooded street.

“Andrea yelled out the window of the truck and said, ‘Hey, would you be willing to give my midwife a ride so she can deliver my baby?’” said Rude.

Courtesy of Andrea Haley

Rude says she packed her birthing supplies and loaded them onto the inflatable swan, to keep them from getting damaged in the flood waters.