Rest home nurse helps deliver baby in car park
Watching a calf being born was the only birthing experience Elaine O’Reilly had prior to delivering a baby in the car park of a Putaruru rest home.
The Te Poi woman answered calls for help from Chance Flavell and her mother-in-law who were driving to Pohlen Hospital’s maternity unit, where Flavell’s baby was to be delivered.
It appears the baby didn’t like that plan and instead decided to enter the world a few days early, forcing the two women to pull over.
‘‘We were on our way to the [Pohlen] hospital and we were coming past the Woolworths [ supermarket] and I had a contraction and she [ baby] decided to pop her head out,’’ Flavell said.
‘‘It’s my second baby so she pretty much just slipped out and because we were by Cardrona [Rest Home] I told my mother-in-law to stop.’’
The Putaruru mother- oftwo said her baby girl was born within minutes of arriving at the rest home.
‘‘ My mother- in- law was banging on the door of the [ rest home] and this nice nurse ran out and she helped me,’’ she said.
‘‘She opened up the door and was giving me all these towels and I asked her if I should push and she said ‘ yes, you should push’ and after one contraction, she was out.
‘‘I thought that I had plenty of time because it wasn’t excruciating pain but the con- tractions were together.’’
O’Reilly said the only experience she had in birthing was watching a calf being born.
‘‘The young girl was going into labour so suddenly ... I held the head and just said to push,’’ she said.
‘‘It was quite exciting . . . it was kind of on the other end of
pretty
close the scale, looking after old people and then there’s new life.’’
O’Reilly placed the baby on Flavell’s chest and covered her with towels to keep the baby warm on the ‘‘cold’’ Monday night. It was certainly not something she expected during her night shift.
‘‘ These things only happened on the television,’’ O’Reilly said. ‘‘The rush of it all has taken a while to sink in.’’
Flavell’s baby was born at 8.20pm on June 22, 11 days early and weighing 5 pounds 10 ounces.
‘‘ I have a 3- year- old boy [called] Blaze so I knew what to expect but this time was quite easy, [baby] done all the work for me,’’ said Flavell.