Galicia Malone, Chicago woman, stops to vote while in labor

Galicia Malone is the new model citizen for voting despite difficult circumstances.

The 21-year-old Chicago native stopped to cast her ballot while on her way to the hospital to deliver her first child, ABC News reported. 

The young mom-to-be was experiencing contractions five minutes apart when she stopped at her Cook County precinct's polling location…wait for it… New Life Celebration Church, NBC News Chicago reported. 

More from GlobalPost: Election Day: Long voting lines reported across United States (VIDEO)

“I never voted before so this made a major difference in my life,” she told CBS Chicago. “And I wanted this to be a stepping-stone for my daughter.”

Her strategy for voting might help those other Americans across the country who are braving long lines and other voting setbacks. 

“I was just trying to read and breathe, read and breathe,” Malone said. “That’s what I kept telling myself, ‘Read and breathe, read and breathe.”