Baby born on back seat of car Bumps are blamed for speedy arrival
Naomi Patterson and Darrion Eley, with daughter Harlea A baby girl from Perth born in the back of a car as her mum and dad raced to hospital will have a lifelong connection to her impromptu delivery.
Naomi Patterson of Fechney Park, gave birth to her daughter in the back seat.
And the 25-year-old nursery practitioner from Perth decided baby Harlea should have “Forrester” as a middle name after the model of Subaru she was born in.
Naomi delivered her daughter before the baby’s father Darrion Eley, a painter and decorator, could park up at Dundee’s Ninewells hospital.
“I think it was the speed bumps that did it,” first-timemum Naomi told the Perthshire Advertiser.
They’d driven from Perth after Naomi’s waters broke at 3.30am on December 9.
“When I called the midwife unit at PRI, they told me I wasn’t in labour. They thought, being my first baby, even if I was beginning labour, I could take about two days before the delivery was over”.
Naomi had a difficult pregnancy and it was agreed beforehand that to be safe, her baby should be born by
not Perth.
“This happened at 3.30am on the Friday and I was due to be scanned on the Monday and have a C-section on the Tuesday.
“I never went to any classes before the baby, the midwives told me not to bother because I wasn’t going to have a natural birth.”
Darrion had recently got a new car, he’d gone all the way to London to pick the Subaru Forrester up.
“I was just wearing my dressing gown, sitting in the back, yelling for him to hurry.
“We never stopped, we’d got to Dundee when the baby came.
“I shouted to Darrion: ‘The baby’s here’. She was there, lying in the footwell.”
Naomi thinks the speed bumps as they entered the hospital complex gave baby Harlea the final push.
“We didn’t know where the maternity unit was, so Darrion dashed into A&E.
“My little Staffie, Caesar was trying to help out, he was behind me in the car, he’d heard me screaming. I picked up the baby and held her to me.
“It seemed like about 50 doctors and nurses came haring out of A&E. I had nothing, just the baby, and they got me in a chair and wheeled me inside.
“Darrion cut the cord and then passed out!”
Baby Harlea Forrester Eley arrived safe and well, weighing 5lb 15oz and is now five-weeks old.