Mum’s joy after gran delivers baby on bathroom floor
ADEVOTED mum who feared she was on the brink of death 12 months ago is celebrating after delivering her new granddaughter on a bathroom floor.
Calm-headed Kelly Davenport, of Rawtenstall, stepped in as makeshift midwife after her daughter Courtney, 18, entered a sudden labour two weeks before her due date.
Despite admitting the experience was “scary”, the drama had a happy ending as baby Rhenesmae made her grand entrance into the world on June 8 at her greatgrandmother Lesley’s Hall Carr Road house, to complete four generations of ladies under the same roof.
Arriving after a mere three pushes, she tipped the scales at 5lb and an ounce.
It has been an amazing turnaround for Kelly, who worked as a welfare assistant at Balladen Primary before she was hospitalised in July 2019 with blood poisoning leading to serious chest and heart infections.
The birth preparations had also been severely disrupted by the pandemic, and Courtney, who has ADHD, had been stressed out by having to choose between her mum or the baby’s dad Pacey Thompson accompanying her - due to strict hospital limits.
Kelly, who has a partner Tom and other children Kiegan, Angel and Willow, said: “It was scary, she is only 18 and it was her first baby and she didn’t want to deliver at hospital without me. They only allow one person in.”
Kelly said she arrived at her parents’ house at around 8.10am - accompanied by Courtney’s friend - after her daughter, who had been staying there, phoned her saying she was in pain.
She rang the birth suite, but while they were waiting for Lesley to return from the post office with the car Kelly realised that her granddaughter-to-be was bringing things to a head sooner than expected.
She said: “I rang 999 and the lady on the phone talked me through, it was scary fast and emotional.
“She said ‘can you see her head?’ I was just staring! By 9.30 I had delivered her, with my mum holding Courtney’s hand.
“It’s quite funny telling people about it now.
“Nobody believed me when I said I’ve just delivered my granddaughter on the bathroom floor.
“Courtney was determined she wasn’t going in hospital on her own. She wouldn’t have managed without me, life is hard for her. But she’s done amazing and still is doing. It makes me happy because I said I wanted to be a midwife and Courtney said ‘you’ve jinxed yourself!’”
Delighted former Accrington & Rossendale College student Courtney said she is “loving” motherhood and her daughter is “doing fine”.
She said: “I just love her to bits and every baby I see.”