DOLTON – A pregnant suburban Chicago woman didn’t let being in labor stop her from voting in a presidential election for the first time.

Cook County Clerk David Orr said 21-year-old Galicia Malone’s water had broken and her contractions were about five minutes apart Tuesday morning when she made a detour while en route to the hospital so that she could vote at New Life Celebration Church in Dolton.

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