This healthy, just a few days old girl in Brazil may be the youngest Swiftie we know so far.
Maria Flor was welcomed into the world just hours after her mother, Maria Mendes, 24, fell ill just before Taylor Swift was set to take the stage in Rio de Janeiro last Saturday night.
Mendes told online news channel G1 that she had been waiting for several years to see her favorite artist in concert and had bought the singer’s Eras Tour tickets at the last minute.
She felt some pain on the morning of the concert and thought it was just cramps she was feeling due to her menstrual cycle, and decided she was fit enough to attend the show.
“It was a pain that came and went, but it didn’t occur to me that it was a pregnancy contraction,” Mendes explained.
“I stayed from 10am until the gates opened, waiting and hoping the pain would go away soon as it was close to the show.”
Maria Mendes didn’t know she was about 40 weeks pregnant and went into labor on Saturday during a Taylor Swift concert in Rio de Janeiro. She gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Maria Flor, despite attempts by hospital staff who suggested the singer’s name
Maria Flor could be the youngest Swiftie – she was born shortly after her 24-year-old mother Maria Mendes went into labor at the concert venue before Taylor Swift took the stage for her Eras Tour show in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday
The pain worsened as she reached her seats at the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium before deciding to go to the bathroom when her waters suddenly broke as Taylor Swift’s music blared in the background.
Mendes was rushed to Salgado Filho Hospital, where doctors performed an ultrasound, and then transferred to Carmela Dutra Maternity Hospital, where she gave birth to her daughter.
‘When my water broke and I got into the ambulance, I felt like it was already in place to get out. “I didn’t know it was time until the doctor put me on the ultrasound and told me there was a 100% chance I was pregnant at 40 weeks,” she said.
‘I should just insist on a natural birth. It was a total surprise. I was menstruating. Nothing would make me consider this happening, not even during the show. When I arrived at the maternity ward, I was already eight centimeters dilated.’
Mendes said she had no idea she was expecting a baby, despite the constant muscle cramps. She went to work while pregnant without any problems, and post-workout photos taken in October showed no baby bump.
The medical staff even suggested naming the baby after the 11-time Grammy Award-winning artist, but she said she had already chosen a name if she had a daughter in the future.
‘I was super happy to listen to my heart. I tried to stay calm,” the young mother said.
‘Despite everything that was going on at the time, I really wanted her to be healthy and well. Now I want to focus on my daughter’s health, being 100 percent, and maybe one day taking her to a Taylor concert.”
Taylor Swift will perform on Saturday during the second night of her Eras Tour in Rio de Janeiro
Maria Mendes was unable to attend the Taylor Swift concert for which she bought tickets at the last minute because she went into labor before the singer took the stage at the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium on Saturday
Maria Mendes said there were suggestions she should have named her baby after Taylor Swift
Brazilian concert halls have been synonymous with mothers giving birth during shows.
In May 2022, a woman who was 39 weeks pregnant went into labor during a Metallica show at Couto Pereira Stadium in Curitiba.
Joice Figueiró, then a mother of two, knew the moment had come to give birth to her son when the band started playing the hit song Enter Sandman.
Paramedics and Figueiró’s doctor, who happened to be at the concert, rushed to her seating area
Her husband Jaime Figuieró sought help from a team of paramedics at the concert venue and her doctor, who also happened to be at the show, immediately rushed to her seating area.
She delivered a healthy Luan Figuieró in the stadium’s handicapped area before an ambulance transported them to a nearby hospital.