Marla: That's because wetting your pants then driving calmly to the hospital doesn't make for good drama.
A fictional inaccuracy about pregnancy. The moment a pregnant woman goes into labor, FAZAM! Her vagina is now her baby's personal waterslide, and she's going to give birth right there, right then. Bonus points if 'right there' is somewhere extremely cramped, uncomfortable or inaccessible (say, an elevator) and 'right then' is precisely when it will be least convenient for her or any other bystanders (such as when the aforementioned elevator has stopped working). Other variants include childbirth in the backseat of a car (taxis are quite popular for this purpose). Inevitably leads to a Screaming Birth, often performed by whichever medical professionals are onhand or someone with no medical training whatsoever. And don't expect Baby to wait for the situation to improve; as long as there's somebody there who's so much as witnessed a birth before, it's ready to jump into that person's open arms.
A very common way to do this trope is to have the woman's water break just before the quick labor, because water gushing out between her legs is a very obvious visual indicator that the baby is coming. Another is for her to clutch her belly and complain about contractions, since that lets the audience know that the baby wants out, now!
As with many tropes, this one has one foot in Truth in Television — the water breaking is a reliable early indication that labor has started, and active labor can be quite a quick process (although also quite a slow one). Likewise, the first stage of labor is indicated by regular contractions. In addition, birth might go by faster if the baby is not the woman's first. However, the 'instant birth' part happens far more frequently on television than it does in real life.
Usually combined with Clean, Pretty Childbirth. Compare with Out Giving Birth, Back in Two Minutes, when the birth happens quicker than it should and offscreen. Not to be confused with Express Delivery.
