A first-time mum is traumatised after she was forced to give birth to her baby on the side of a busy road. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
A first-time mum is traumatised after she was forced to give birth to her baby on the side of a busy road. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
A first-time mum is traumatised after she was forced to give birth to her baby on the side of a busy road and he hit his head as he came out.
The woman had earlier been sent home from Auckland City Hospital, despite being worried about bleeding and feeling the need to push.
She and her partner were in the car when she could feel the baby’s head crowning. Terrified she would injure the baby’s neck, they pulled over so she could get out.
In a “matter of seconds”, the baby had slipped down her pyjama pants leg and onto the road - hitting the side of his head.
“You never expect to see your baby on the street, covered in dirt, covered in blood,” the man said.
The couple, who live in Māngere Bridge, agreed to speak to the Herald on Sunday on the condition of anonymity.
They want to share their story because they are worried about it happening to someone else. The woman also wants to encourage others to listen to their bodies and be firm with medical practitioners if they feel something isn’t right.
On the morning of October 28, the 36-year-old woman started feeling irregular contractions and had some blood spots. She contacted her midwife who, the woman said, assured her everything was normal and the labour would take some time.
That night the contractions became more regular and the bleeding looked worse. The woman wanted to go to the hospital to get checked, but she said the midwife advised her to stay home, shower and have something to eat.
By the early hours of that morning, the contractions were coming about every three minutes and were quite painful, the woman said.
They couldn’t reach the midwife, so they decided to go to the hospital anyway.
The woman was struggling to walk and felt the need to start pushing by the time they got to Auckland City Hospital. The staff there consulted with the couple’s midwife, checked the baby’s heartbeat, and told her to go home because her cervix had only dilated to 2cm.
She said she felt frustrated her concerns were not taken seriously.
“They were treating us like we were just panicking because we were first-time parents.”
After arriving home again, the woman said she had heavy bleeding and despite the midwife trying to reassure them they should stay at home and wait, eventually they all agreed to meet back at the hospital. She estimates she spent about half an hour at home.
But they had to pull over on busy Pah Rd in Epsom on the way there, where the woman delivered her baby on the side of the road just as she got out of the car.
Her partner picked up their baby boy, wrapped him in his T-shirt, and placed him against his chest.
“I immediately tried to look around if there was anyone close to us, like another car passing by to try to stop them and ask for help. In that moment I felt overwhelmed, it’s just an unreal situation.”
The parents of a baby who was born on the side of the road after they were sent home from hospital during labour, say they feel let down by a system they thought they could trust. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
He managed to wave down a rubbish collection truck driver who called 111 and two ambulances arrived soon after. One took her to hospital.
The woman said she felt frozen and shocked.
“It was so confusing in my mind to realise the baby who was in my womb was now on the road. Something in my brain was not able to match these two ideas.”
Deb Pittam, director of midwifery at Te Whatu Ora - Te Toka Tumai Auckland, said they would contact the family “to work with them around their concerns”.
“We’re very sorry to hear of how [the patient] and her whānau felt about their experience.
“We acknowledge that the circumstances of the birth of her baby would have been a distressing and highly emotional time.”
She said it was usual practice for mothers who are not in established labour to return home while waiting for labour to progress, which can often take many hours.
“We know the labour journey can be an uncertain time for whānau and we encourage people to discuss any questions they may have with their midwife.”
She encouraged patients and whānau to talk to them directly about care concerns or to contact the Health and Disability Commissioner.
The woman required surgery and doctors declared the baby was fine, the couple said. They spent five days in hospital.
The pair have since wondered whether they should have been more firm with the midwife at the hospital or if they should have waited in the hospital carpark instead of going home.
They are worried a medical complication with the baby could still be discovered and they don’t trust the health system anymore.
