Dad left to deliver his own baby - because the midwife was too busy
Categories: Babies, Pregnancy & birth, Latest news
A father was forced to deliver his own baby because the midwife was too busy, it has been reported.
The country's midwife shortage is being blamed for the events at the Royal Blackburn Hospital in Lancashire.
Emily Baron, 26, started bleeding during labour, but apparently the midwife walked out of the room, leaving her alone with her partner, Thomas Howard, 33.
Mr Howard told the Daily Express: "It was then that I noticed the baby's head coming through.
"I pressed the buzzer to get assistance but nobody came and I decided that I would have to step in.
"It happened quickly and I just had to go with it. The baby was lying at the end of the bed and I was making sure she could breathe when the midwife came back in. I was in shock but she didn't say anything. She just carried on as if it was normal."
Fortunately both the mother and her baby girl, who they have named Madeline, are doing well since the birth last Tuesday.
Ruth Gildert, of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, told the Express: "I apologise to Ms Baron and her partner for the distress they experienced.
"Our midwives supervise all women very closely during labour.
"However there may, on some occasions, be the need to briefly leave the room and a baby can be born unexpectedly quickly.
"As a result of the concerns expressed we will be looking very closely into what happened."
A report last month warned that there was a shortage of maternity staff in some areas of the country, partly due to Britain's rising birth rate.
A spokesman for the National Childbirth Trust told the Express: "Being left alone in labour in hospital is unacceptable. Having a midwife with you when you give birth is vital to ensure that there are no complications."
Sometimes babies are born very quickly and you can see how this could happen - but it must have been terrifying for the parents.
I wonder how common this is. Were you left alone at a crucial moment during labour?
Source: Daily Express
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Emma 2-02-2010 @ 5:52AM
Yes this happened to me TWICE! Once in Royal Bolton Hospital and once in Scunthorpe General Hospital. And it wasn't like the babies were born really quickly, but because the midwives didn't listen to me when I told them I was ready to push. They go to uni and get qualified so they think they know it all, but the truth is they don't know your body as well as you do and it's about time they started listening to real people rather than text books. My eldest child who was also born at Scunthorpe was born without any complication because my midwife (who hadn't had children herself) was fabulous and listened to me.
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Pigletstrotters 2-02-2010 @ 11:26AM
l work in a Neo Natal dept of a hospital ,and have to stand up for the midwives and staff,they work under huge pressure and sometimes need to be in 4 places at the same time,so give these people a break ,,so the father had to deliver his baby ,,whats the big deal,,l would of thought it would be a privilage to be there and help out ,or maybe he is only talking now as he is after compo..
ann 2-02-2010 @ 5:52AM
No i wasnt left alone so to speak....i was ,with my second baby,sent home on the bus ,in labour, because they didnt think i was ready to give birth-as a consequence to this i then had the flying squad out from two counties,when they found out that ,oh yes indeedy i WAS in labour and the baby was going to appear and i ended up having my daughter on my sons bed !!
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porterclair 2-02-2010 @ 6:14AM
My last 2 babies were born at home the midwives were fantastic with me all the way through, much more relaxed and they wernt popping up the corridor to see to other people fantastic care big thanks to dorothy and sandra
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emtrev27 2-02-2010 @ 10:32AM
I had my baby had home just to guarantee the midwifes would be at my side. I had 2 fantastic midwifes and a great birth despite the baby being breech.
Sue 2-02-2010 @ 6:27AM
Staff shortages go back a long time. 16 years ago I called Thameside Hospital to tell them I was on my way as I had gone into labour. There was no reply so they were not expecting me. I had to share a midwife as they were short staffed. There was also a shortage of monitors so I was not monitored during labour. When the midwife was with me she was very indifferent and just sat on a chair and did nothing until there was clearly a problem. My baby was in distress but since there were no monitors this was not picked up until they used a head monitor by which time it was too late for a section. Unfortunately, my baby only survived a week as her brain was so severely damaged. To this day I am convinced this could have been avoided with a little more care and basic resources.
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Bryan 2-02-2010 @ 6:53AM
I can see how this can happen. My wife was cooking dinner at 6.15 pm, when I got in from work. She said she was having a few pains, but it was three weeks before the due date.
I called our local maternity unit, just 5 minutes away, and was asked to describe the systems, time between pains etc. The midwife said, "Well bring her in and I will take a look. It will probably be a false alarm, but no harm done".
We arrived at the unit at 6.35, and the midwife called Annie, came into reception 5 minutes later, and asked a few questions. She led us all into a delivery room so that she could do a check.
My older daughter, then seven, and I, sat in an adjacent TV lounge, behind a connecting door. My wife, by this time, was getting very uncomfortable, and Annie looked round the door and said, "I think we are going to have a baby here in a few hours. Would you like to come through?"
I joined my wife and Annie in the delivery room, and left my daughter in the TV room, where I could see her, about 6 feet away, through the glass connecting door.
Annie was rushing around, collecting the scales and other monitoring stuff from an adjacent delivery room. Don't forget, we had only been using the room we were in as a check up room. I stayed with my wife "Giving support", yeah right!
My wife was on all fours, when Annie came over, and within a minute or so there was a little face, facing up to the ceiling. "Call your daughter!" Said Annie, which I did.
"Next push and this little one will be here", said Annie, "would you like to catch the baby as it comes out?" "Not me!" I said, "I might knock on! (watch a rugby match) It's your job, each to their own".
At 6.55 pm, on 24th March, April Annie was born. Three weeks early and perfect in every way.
At 7.30 I was told I could take them all home, but I had to resist as we had no baby clothes. Tesco saw my seven year old and I at about midnight, buying a few pink things, and new born pampers.
Two and a half years later, we had a similar experience, but 4 weeks early this time. Different midwife, older and not quite so cool. She had us rushed to nearby Gloucester Royal, and I missed the birth. How I wish Annie had been on duty that night, we would have stayed right there in our cosy local maternity unit, and I would have witnessed another miracle.
April will be six next month.
Thank you Annie!
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Bryan 2-02-2010 @ 6:41AM
porterclair: Do you live in a block of flats where there is a lot of birthing going on? I thought you said you gave birth at home, but the midwives were popping up the corridor to see to others?
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chic 2-02-2010 @ 8:58AM
Read it properly Bryan, they wern't popping out to the corridor.
Aida 2-02-2010 @ 6:54AM
My daughter was born at St George's Tooting London in December and ALL of the midwives were fantastic. We never had any concerns about having to cope by ourselves even though the Labour ward was very busy at the time.
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dj 2-02-2010 @ 6:54AM
Like any public service you get what you pay for. I'm sure there was no negligence involved - the midwife was no doubt out of the room for a legitimate reason and the parents would have no doubt been made aware she was leaving and in alll probability made no objections to it. Go to a private hospital next time if you're unhappy stop bleating about minor hiccups like this in public. All this is worth is an apology which you've so if you're up for the cash forget it and get on looking after your kid.
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chic 2-02-2010 @ 9:22AM
Hey dj
who are you 'the' midwife at the hospital, or a pompos git that needs to live in the real world, you have no boubt that the parents were informed that the midwife was leaving the room for a no boubt legitimate reason, maybe thats how it should have happened by the book. Have you ever even been in a NHS labour room, or do you go "private"!!!.
Get a life with your stupid comments about all they deserve is an appology, that mother and baby could quite easily have died, given the fact that she was bleeding before giving birth; It is not up to a father to deliver his wifes baby in a hospital, I'm personally just realieved that they are both ok and Im sure the midwife concerned is too given the fact that she was not there when she should have been.
Jody 2-02-2010 @ 10:15AM
DJ sadly being able to pay for private care doesn't guarentee you a good experience either.
The sad case of Laura Touche a few years ago proves that, she died just days after giving birth in what I think was referred to at the time as a celebrity private hospital, The Portland, and neglect and errors were proven in court as contributing factors in her death.
And just recently we have had another high profile case on the news, Victoria Anderson hired a private midwife for a home birth who apparently slashed at her and the baby with scissors when they had unexpected difficulties in the labour, seriously disfiguring the mother and leaving the baby disabled. She paid this woman £1000's because she lives far away from the closest hospital and thought that she would get better care if she had a one-to-one experience throughout her pregnancy with the same midwife but clearly her experience was very different to the one she thought she was paying for. This case hasn't been proven yet but the details suggest paying for private care hasn't helped this particular mother and child.
joan barker 2-02-2010 @ 6:55AM
It is common for this to happen. st Thomas hospitail london shoved my daughter in a cold old side room whilst in labour due to not having enough beds. She gave birth and had to hold the baby for 6 hours as there was no cot to be found anywhere. The midwife had to ask me to find various instruments around the ward as the side room she was dumped in had just a bed and nothing else. The room was cold and I also had to change the sodden sheets as they left my daughter in a pool of blood and water for over 2 hours. We did complain but it fell on deaf ears as usual. This happened 6 years ago. Women are not treated as well as they should be during pregnancy my youngest daughter had her baby 4 months ago again in st tomas and they sent her home whilst in labour. as soon as we got home and she was obviousy distressed and scared we had to call an ambulance as the pains were every min. Why send women home that are in labour? It's very very scary whats going on in labour wards
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jrobertsondj 2-02-2010 @ 6:56AM
Bryan, Poterclair said they wern't popping up the corridor.
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Bryan 2-02-2010 @ 7:10AM
porterclaire: I'm sorry, I read wernt as went. I should pay more attention, but I weren't, obviously. Silly me!
Lisa 2-02-2010 @ 7:07AM
While my first child wasn't born without a midwife in attendance, I was certainly left alone for long stretches of time including when I was fully dilated an ready to push. I also ended up with episiotomy, ventouse delivery..never again. My second child was born at home, two midwives in attendance throughout. Wonderful experience and one I would recommend to any low risk second timer. And calm first timers!
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NatalieEdge-Edwards 2-02-2010 @ 7:22AM
I was in labour for 22 hours (which then resulted in an emergency C-Section after failed pushing and failed forceps) and the midwives were only there for the last 4 hours of my birth with my son. I was the only woman on the ward that evening/next day so they weren't rushed off their feet with other women. I could hear them outside the ward making drinks, laughing and joking while I was contracting every minute for 18 hours. This was at Derby City Hospital
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Holly 2-02-2010 @ 7:28AM
I had my first child 40 years ago. Luckily I'd been to NCT classes for I was left entirely alone for the whole of my 8-hour labour. The call button didn't work so when I was in transition I had to get up and walk along the corridor to fetch a midwife. Fortunately there was a midwife in attendance for the birth!
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nes 2-02-2010 @ 8:23AM
i too was left alone with my 5th,my hubby panicked,when the midwie finally arrived after having 2 cups of coffee on the ward and a chat to her pals she was useless and i mean useless,no idea how to deliver my baby,just passed out apparently...yes i complained but yet again fell on deaf ears....derbyshire health authority how wonderful......out of my 5 births only once was i cared for properly
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