‘Community effort’ helps mother give birth to baby Cooper in back of car
BABY Cooper Edmonds could not wait to reach hospital and made his grand entrance into the world in the back of a car.
The drama unfolded for his proud parents Jessica (27) and Darren (29) Edmonds some 15 minutes into their journey from Sandyford to the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.
Mr Edmonds said his partner decided she needed to go to the hospital so he rang his friend Matthew Devlin to come and pick them up.
“We were en route when Jessica said, ‘I’m not going to make it’. So I rang 112 and the guy on emergency services directed me on how to deliver the baby.”
He said that when he was in the middle of delivering Cooper, members of Dublin Fire Brigade from nearby Donnybrook station showed up and took over to make sure everything was OK.
“They saved the day and got us straight to hospital. It was brilliant.
“We got picked up at 10.30 on Wednesday night and the baby was born at a quarter to 11.”
Mr Edmonds told how they had pulled in at the side of Anglesea Road, in Ballsbridge.
“There was a guy in his garden, and he went into his neighbour who was a dentist and he came out and he assisted us as well.
“Three people from that road came out and assisted us until the fire brigade arrived, so it was a very big community thing. It was brilliant,” he said.
He said they then moved from the car to the ambulance. The couple’s other son Riley is two and a half. “They always say the second one is quicker, but we weren’t expecting it to be that quick,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ms Edmonds told the Irish Independent the family would go to visit the firefighters and the advanced paramedic from Donnybrook station who helped them.
Cooper was born weighing 7lb 11oz. “He is actually two weeks early,” Ms Edmonds said.
The couple should be home from hospital this evening, and are looking forward to introducing Riley to his brother.