A Cobb County mother who allegedly told her two daughters to help her shoplift nearly $1,600 from Wal-Mart wasn’t immediately arrested when she left the store.

That’s because she was 39 weeks pregnant, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution learned Tuesday.

After she delivers the baby, Lakesha Michelle Gilchrist, 38, will be arrested on a felony shoplifting charge and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Officer David Baldwin with Marietta police said.

On Friday afternoon, Gilchrist, of Marietta, allegedly tried to leave the Wal-Mart on Cobb Parkway with three shopping carts and three plastic containers of household goods and clothing, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the AJC. The merchandise was valued at $1,582.98, according to Marietta police.

But Gilchrist didn’t act alone, police said. She brought her daughters, ages 15 and 10, into the store and encouraged them both to help steal merchandise, according to police.

An arrest warrant was issued for Gilchrist, but she was released because of the late stage of her pregnancy, Baldwin said.