Dad delivers baby at home
WHEN Timothy Govender decided to become a nurse, he never dreamt he would be delivering his own baby.
Last Tuesday, the Cape Town dad brought his third child into the world after his wife, Leticia, 31, suddenly went into labour at home.
Govender, who lives in Rocklands and works at Melomed Mitchells Plain, is a second-year nursing student, and said he had no training in delivering babies.
An overwhelmed Govender told POST’s sister paper, Daily Voice: “I arrived at home from a night shift at 7.30am.
“My kids, 12 and 5, were eating their breakfast and I went to lie next to my wife, who said she was feeling ‘uncomfortable’.
“She was due on May 25, but the doctor said to expect (the baby) any time from the 11th.”
He said while he took his kids to school, his wife had a warm bath to help ease her discomfort.
She got back into bed, but minutes later she asked him to check her.
The amazed dad says: “I saw the baby’s head showing.
“I immediately called the ambulance, but when I put down the phone it was too late, she had started to push.
“It all happened so fast and it was all over in two minutes.
“The first push made the head come out and the second push brought the whole baby out.”
The baby boy was born at 9.08am.
Govender said he placed his son on his wife’s chest and waited for the paramedics, who arrived about 20 minutes later.
The cord was still attached and the placenta was still inside her.
“We named him Chase and he weighs 2.7kg. Doctors say he is healthy, but just had low sugar levels,” the dad added.
Govender said his colleagues were surprised to see him back at work after only two hours, with a new baby in tow.
“We weren’t ready for this,” he laughed.