Brittany Selph, 32, of Waverly, Tennessee, gave birth to her daughter Oaklyn on Halloween at Henry County Medical Center in Paris, delivered by her obstetrician, Dr. Paul Locus, who stayed dressed as Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight rather than change into scrubs.
Selph was not due until November 5, but woke on the morning of October 31 feeling her water leaking. She and her husband, Justin, 33, sent their two older children, ages 10 and 4, off to school before heading to the hospital around noon. There they found Locus had arrived in full costume, with a green wig, white face paint and smeared red lipstick, planning to go home afterward to hand out candy and return in his medical clothes before the delivery. The couple asked him to stay in character instead. “But I told him, if he came back in it, it’s OK,” Brittany told ABC News. “That’d be a pretty cool story to tell.”
Justin said the family could not help but react to the sight when the doctor walked in. “We couldn’t help but laugh when he walked in the room,” he told ABC News. Brittany later said the costume helped distract her during labor. “I think seeing him dressed up in the delivery room, it did kind of take away from everything I was doing and the pain,” she told TODAY. “It was a good laugh, it made me feel calm.”
Oaklyn arrived healthy that evening. Afterward, Locus handed the family a congratulations card signed “Dr. Joker,” a keepsake the Selphs say will accompany the story of their daughter’s unusual birthday for years to come
