Mother thanks ambulance crew for delivering her baby at home
A new mother thanks ambulance crew for delivering her baby at home.
Pregnant twenty-two year old nursery practitioner, Amy Turnbull from Gateshead began contractions and was preparing for nature to take its course. As time went by and her contractions strengthened, she phoned for an ambulance to help get to hospital.
A North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) crew attended to find Amy almost ready to give birth.
With the service for 4 and a half years, paramedic Sarah Robinson is no stranger to childbirth, having helped delivered four babies in the past. She says, “Amy delivered Ethan much quicker than we were expecting, it really was a team effort to deliver her baby and get them both to hospital as soon as possible. It has been great to come back and see how well Amy and Ethan are doing.”
Sarah was accompanied by student paramedic, Tom Cuthbertson to the incident, who added, “It was a privilege to help bring a new life into the world and we were all relieved that things went so smoothly. Amy was fantastic throughout and it has been great to see them both.”
Once safely delivered, baby Ethan and his new mum Amy were taken to Gateshead Queen Elizabeth Hospital by Sarah and Tom, once they recognised that the baby felt cold. On arrival, baby Ethan was cared for in an incubator and the two stayed in the care of the hospital for 7 nights before being discharged home to begin their new life as a family.
Amy explained, “My mum phoned the ambulance when my contractions were getting stronger and closer together. The ambulance arrived really quickly and they knew exactly what to do because, in what can only have been minutes from them arriving, I gave birth to my son.
“Ethan is now 11 weeks old and after the experience, I wanted to meet up with the crew to thank them for all that they did for me and Ethan. If they hadn’t have acted so quickly and got us to hospital as soon as they did, he could have been a lot more poorly than he was. Both Sarah and Tom were very reassuring throughout the birth and I can’t thank them enough for being there.”
In 2015/16 the service answered 1.160 million emergency 999 and NHS 111 calls, responded to 295,855 incidents that resulted in a patient being taken to hospital, treated and discharged 19,949 patients with telephone advice and treated and discharged 85,021 patients at home. In the same year, emergency care crews reached 132,948 incidents within the national target of 8 minutes.
Notes to editors
Media contact
Steph Walker at NEAS, Tel: 0191 4302099, Stephanie.walker@neas.nhs.uk
About North East Ambulance Service
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) covers 3,200 square miles across the North East region. It employs more than 2,500 staff and serves a population of 2.7 million people by handling all NHS 111 and 999 calls for the region, operating patient transport and ambulance response services, delivering training for communities and commercial audiences and providing medical support cover at events.
In 2015/16 the service answered 1.160 million emergency 999 and NHS 111 calls, responded to 295,855 incidents that resulted in a patient being taken to hospital, treated and discharged 19,949 patients with telephone advice and treated and discharged 85,021 patients at home. In the same year, emergency care crews reached 132,948 incidents within the national target of 8 minutes.