[Edited to add: this answer is out of date because a new exception was indeed passed recently, see the other answer below.]
There is no childbirth exception to early withdrawal of funds from an IRA. The only penalty exception that applies to unemployed persons is an exception for paying health care premiums but only after your health care premiums have exceeded 7.5% of your gross income. If you did qualify for the exception to withdrawing funds to pay health insurance premiums while unemployed, this only applies to the IRA and not the 401(k). You could roll over the 401(k) into an IRA and then withdraw the money from the IRA, but if you withdrew it directly from the 401(k) the penalty exception would not apply because the rules for penalty exceptions for 401(k)s are different and the rules for IRAs.
