Boston Mom Dances Away Labor Pains

— -- When Yuki Nishitzawa and Connell Cloyd tell their 2-day-old son, Coji, about his birth, they will have quite a story to tell.

The story will begin with Nishitzawa, 36, of Boston, telling Cloyd, 35, on Tuesday that she was getting bored walking around in circles at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital as they waited, and waited, for Coji to make his appearance.

Coji will really laugh, until he gets old enough to possibly be embarrassed, when his dad tells him what his mom did next, which was to dance until he was ready to come out into the world.

In a video shot by Cloyd and posted to Facebook and YouTube, Nishitzawa can be seen breaking it down to “Tootsee Roll” and other hits while a bemused nurse watches in the background.

The moment, which has now gone viral, was entirely real, Cloyd told ABC News, and it worked. Coji Alexander Nishitzawa-Cloyd was born around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, weighing at a healthy 6 pounds, 15 ounces.

“After she danced she spent some time in the hot bath, about an hour, and then as soon as she said, ‘I want to push, he’s coming,’ he was coming,” Cloyd said. “And 30 seconds later he just came out.”

Cloyd says he and Nishitzawa, both teachers, who also have a 2-year-old daughter, like to listen to music during the delivery process. The song “Tootsee Roll,” by rappers 69 Boyz, had special significance for the couple.

“With the birth of our daughter, the night before we were at a birthday party and she was dancing and dancing,” Cloyd said of his wife. “Ironically, the dance of choice was the ‘Tootsee Roll’ and our daughter was born the next day.”

Cloyd can be heard in the video joking with his wife that the dance was going to make her a star. In reality, he said, the couple filmed the whole birth process just as a keepsake and to share with family and friends.

The fact that the video has gone viral, with millions of views, is fine by Cloyd and his wife, though, because they hope it gives other families hope.

“Our middle son, Yuji, passed away at birth,” Cloyd said. “We tried it again and are fortunate our new son is healthy and everything is going smoothly.”

“For mothers out there, just be encouraged,” he said.