Officers step in to help homeless woman give birth to healthy baby
A HOMELESS woman, who gave birth to a bouncing baby girl on Sunday, has thanked law enforcement and her homeless friend for assisting her during delivery.
An excited Sharon Esau, 35, who has been staying under the bridge in Foundry Road, Salt River, for six years, confirmed yesterday that her daughter was “healthy and doing well”.
“Thank you very much for helping me, I appreciate it a lot. We are fine, the baby is healthy. After I am discharged I am going to stay with the baby's grandmother. The baby doesn't have a name yet,” Esau said.
According to the law enforcement officer Nonzaliseko Maginindane, they were stopped during patrol by two panicked boys, appealing for help with a woman who was about to give birth.
Maginindane said the baby was already crowning when they arrived on the scene at about 11am, and they called an ambulance for help.
“We arrived on the scene and she was just about to give birth.
With the help of another homeless woman, we delivered the baby. I was not scared or nervous at all, my partner was scared, but I just did what I have seen being done to me, when I gave birth as a mother. We consoled the mother until the ambulance arrived,” she said.
The City's law enforcement principal inspector Wayne Dyason said when the officers arrived, they realised that the baby was not going to wait for expert medical assistance.
“The healthy baby girl was safely transported to Somerset Hospital, along with her mother, by ambulance, leaving behind a very pleased team of makeshift midwives,” he said.
Haven Night Shelter chief executive Hassan Khan said they were happy everything turned out safely.
“We pray that this bundle of joy will be a monument to the essential humanity of a homeless person,” Khan said.