A New Zealand midwife has been described as 'a superhero' by a grateful couple, after she saved their baby’s life.
Parents Naomi Facey and Neil Bolton live in the remote area of Russell, where they run a holiday park. To get to the nearest hospital, they need to take a car ferry.
Naomi was two weeks away from her due date when her waters broke suddenly on March 19, according to The Northern Advocate.
Naomi’s baby was in breech position, so her first call was to her midwife, Sue Bree. Sue advised Naomi to make her way to the ferry to hospital, on the mainland, before it stopped running.
But then Naomi noticed something scary: part of the umbilical cord was hanging out. She realised this was a prolapsed cord, which could be fatal to the baby as it can cut off the air supply.
Her partner called Sue back for help, who immediately gave them urgent advice. “She told Naomi to get head down, bum up, to keep the baby’s weight off the cord. Then I had to hang up and call an ambulance,” Neil said.
While the worried parents followed her advice, Sue boarded the ferry to make her way to the couple. On her arrival, she immediately donned her gloves to check on the baby. She checked for a pulse and held the baby away from the umbilical cord.
She used her free hand to call the obstetrician at the local hospital for advice, while keeping her other hand inside the birth canal to support the baby.
It was clear Naomi needed to get to hospital fast, and a helicopter was called. The expectant mum had to crawl out of her bathroom as a stretcher wouldn’t fit through. She was then loaded into an ambulance and driven to the local school where the helicopter was waiting.
Naomi had to remain in the head-down position, and Sue had to keep holding her hand in place all throughout this. The mum and midwife were whisked to hospital by helicopter, where Naomi had an emergency C-section.
After an hour-and-a-half, Sue could finally withdraw her hand as baby Emilia was safely delivered. Doctors were worried that they would have to revive Emilia, but luckily she was fine. Neil arrived to hospital to find his little girl had already been born.
“The doctors expected to do a full resuscitation, but she coughed into life, she was perfect. She’s a little miracle,” he said.
He added that the brave midwife was a “superhero”. A combination of her advice and keeping the pressure off the cord saved little Emilia’s life.
The couple said they were hugely grateful to Sue, the helicopter crew, the hospital staff, and everyone in Russell who had pitched in - from St John volunteers and firefighters, to the ferry crew and campground staff.
“I don’t know that they’ll ever know how grateful we are. Words can’t express it,” Naomi said.
