Festival Attendee Welcomes Baby Girl at Burning Man Event

A Utah woman gave birth to a baby girl in the bathroom of her RV while attending Burning Man. 

Kayla Thompson, 37, and her husband Kasey Thompson, 39, were attending the Nevada festival when on Wednesday morning, they unexpectedly welcomed their daughter, Aurora.

Speaking with The New York Times, Kayla recounted that she awoke in severe pain, initially assuming it was due to something she ate, or possibly appendicitis.

Moments later, however, she found herself in active labor and, with no prior warning, delivered a three-pound, nine-ounce baby girl in the cramped bathroom of their camper.

Kayla mentioned she was unaware of her pregnancy and remarked: ‘Even the nurses at the hospital said, “You don’t look like you were pregnant at all”.’

Kayla, who works in medical billing, added: ‘I didn’t have any symptoms.’

Her husband, Kasey, who lays tiles for a living, recalled the chaos of the moment: ‘I was yelling for anyone to come help us,’ he said through tears.

The couple had just arrived at the arts and culture festival days earlier from Salt Lake City, with help arriving quickly on the scene.  

Kayla and Kasey Thompson, both in their late 30s, were attending their first Burning Man festival when Kayla suddenly awoke early Wednesday morning, experiencing severe pain inside their RV camper.

In a matter of moments, and without any previous indications, Kayla gave birth to a 3-pound, 9-ounce baby girl in the cramped bathroom of their camper, as seen at the festival this week.

Within minutes of Kasey’s cries for assistance, a neonatal care nurse, a pediatrician, and an Obstetrician-Gynecologist – all fellow attendees – arrived from neighboring camps. 

The Obstetrician-Gynecologist helped deliver the placenta while wearing nothing but underwear, according to the outlet.

‘This should not be happening this way,’ Kasey remembered thinking as he scrambled to gather supplies and leaned on the support of strangers.

Maureen O’Reilly, a 61-year-old nurse with a background in neonatal critical care, was one of the first to respond after hearing word of the surprise birth.

O’Reilly wrapped garbage bags around her shoes and trudged through the thick desert mud to reach the RV – arriving just as the umbilical cord was being cut.

‘I introduced myself as a nurse and immediately placed the baby on my stomach to keep her warm,’ O’Reilly recalled. With nothing but her own body heat and an old towel, she worked to care for the tiny newborn.

‘The hardest part was knowing, as a nurse, what can go wrong,’ she said. ‘Having no resources was frightening.’

Still, O’Reilly managed to help stabilize the infant, who was crying, breathing steadily, and showing signs of healthy color. 

Attendees dance during the annual Burning Man Festival in the early morning of September 5, 2023

The Thompson family (pictured) ‘are so in love with [Aurora] already,’ according to an Instagram post by the baby girl’s grandmother 

All of this was unfolding amid a soaked and chaotic Black Rock Desert, where a seasonal monsoon had already turned the Burning Man festival into a mud-riddled landscape – shutting down entry gates, toppling tents, and stranding thousands.

The terrain was too difficult for ambulances to navigate, according to the Los Angeles Times, but about 10 to 15 minutes after the birth, Black Rock Rangers arrived in an SUV with medics.

They transported Aurora to a medical tent, but because there was only space for one on the Life Flight helicopter, Kasey had to make a gut-wrenching decision – leave his wife or his new baby girl.

‘That was the hardest decision of my life,’ he said. 

Kasey ultimately chose to stay with his wife after a doctor promised the baby would not be left alone.

The couple then rode separately in an ambulance to a hospital in Reno, more than three hours away over muddy roads.

After finally reuniting with Aurora in the neonatal intensive care unit, Kasey said his daughter ‘was safe and sound’ and that he ‘was so thrilled.’

Doctors estimated that Kayla was around 36 weeks pregnant and measured baby Aurora to be 16.5 inches long and weighing 3 pounds, 9.6 ounces.

A man holds up a tent structure amid a dust storm near Burning Man festival’s Black Rock Desert site last weekend

The Burning Man event is an annual, week-long arts and culture festival held in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada that ends with the burning of a large effigy known as The Man

The family, now staying at a hotel in Reno, was discharged from the hospital on Thursday, though Aurora remains in the NICU gaining strength.

‘Their world has just been flipped upside down completely,’ Kasey’s sister, Lacey Paxman, told the outlet, adding that she and the Thompsons’ parents have traveled from Utah to support the couple.

A GoFundMe has since been launched by Paxman and notes that the couple left everything behind at Burning Man – including their supplies and clothes – and are now facing the unexpected costs of medical care, lodging, and first-time parenting.

‘Since this is their first child and the pregnancy was completely unexpected, my brother and his wife don’t have anything prepared – no baby supplies, no nursery, nothing at all,’ she wrote.

Despite the shock and fear of the experience, Kasey expressed deep gratitude for the strangers who helped deliver their daughter.

‘That’s what that community is about,’ he said. ‘They will always have such a special place in my heart.’ 

‘It’s an absolute miracle. Had I known [about the pregnancy], that’s the absolutely last place on this planet I would have been,’ he assured.

The Burning Man event is an annual, week-long arts and culture festival held in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada that ends with the burning of a large effigy known as The Man. 

It typically takes place in late August through early September and is known for its radical self-expression, massive art installations, communal living, and off-the-grid experience.