A woman who unexpectedly went in to labour had her baby delivered by her husband and sister - while the rest of her family made dinner downstairs. Abbie Morris, 32, gave birth to a little boy a week before her due date at home in Fareham, Hants.
She had invited relatives over for a meal on the evening of August 21 when her contractions became more intense. Abbie, a junior merchandiser, went into labour before a paramedic could arrive - forcing her husband Aaron, 32, and sister Grace, 29, to step in.
Thankfully, baby Jax was delivered safely and is now doing well - just like his mum and the rest of the family. Abbie said: “My mum had no clue what on earth was going on – she was so distracted keeping the kids entertained she didn’t realise I had had the baby upstairs.
“Because it was so quick, I was still wearing my clothes. I was wearing a long black skirt which I was able to push down and my hair and make-up were still intact.
“In the end up my dad ended up making the chilli for dinner and my daughter was able to meet Jax when he was only an hour old. We told everyone his name and they got to see him and give him a kiss.”
Abbie had planned to throw a small dinner party with her family on the Sunday. But on the Saturday - August 20 - she began to experience contractions.
However, after a visit to the hospital, she says she was told that there was no reason to worry and sent home. The contractions settled down throughout the day and by the evening seemed to have stopped completely, so Abbie decided to throw the party as planned.
But, as Sunday progressed, she noticed she was experiencing contractions again – so she asked her parents to pop round early to keep an eye on daughter Ellie, three. After they arrived at 2pm, she decided to take a break in her bedroom and at 4.45pm told Aaron she was going to take a nap.
However, just 10 minutes later, she found herself in increasing pain – and at 4.55pm, when Aaron came to check on her, she realised the contractions were just five minutes apart. Abbie said: “On Saturday I started having some contractions in the morning – they were mild and I was a bit concerned so I went into hospital and they monitored me but said it was fine.
“I left the hospital and was home by 10.30pm and went to bed at 1am, when the contractions had stopped completely and I thought it was a false alarm. I woke up in the morning and the same thing happened again – they kicked off at 10am but it was fine.
“I’d decided I wasn’t going to cancel [the dinner party] – even if we did have to go to hospital it meant people would be here to watch Ellie. Mum and Dad came around at about 2pm and I decided to go upstairs to the bedroom.
“At about 4.45pm Aaron came up again and I said, ‘These aren’t going anywhere, it’s going to be the same as yesterday’. I lay down on the bed to have a little sleep and then 10 minutes later the contractions ramped up and I couldn’t lie down the same anymore.
“Aaron came up at 4.55pm and I told him they were strong but still five minutes apart. I phoned the labour line to ask if it was normal as they were still far apart but really intense now. They were quite laid back about it on the phone – the thing they were worried about was the fact there were no hospital beds available.”
Abbie claims the call handler suggested she may need to attend a hospital over an hour away, as there were no beds. Realising they may be in for a long journey, Aaron then rushed out of the house to fill the car with fuel to ensure they could make it to wherever they needed to go.
In the meantime, things weren’t slowing down for Abbie – and, within 20 minutes, her contractions were suddenly just a minute apart. Abbie said: “Aaron ran out to get petrol as we had enough to get to the local hospital but not to get an hour away.
“During that time, I finished the conversation with the lady and agreed I would call back when they were closer together. At 5.15pm, they were a minute apart and I was starting to panic as Aaron was still not back from getting petrol.
"I was getting to the realisation that the baby was coming at home. At 20 past, I phoned the labour line again but the contractions were so intense I couldn’t speak at all.
“They continued to say they didn’t know where I would be sent and they would phone me back and tell me where I needed to go. At 6pm, I still hadn’t heard from them and I said to Grace and Aaron that I thought we needed to call 999 because I knew this baby was coming.
“I was having the urge to push and Aaron was on the phone to the ambulance. She put us on hold and said she needed to speak to someone and during the time we were on hold my waters broke.
“When she came back, she put us straight on to the midwife who coached Aaron through how to deliver the baby. Aaron was quite upset and was saying to Grace, ‘I can’t do it, I can’t do it’ and she was telling him he could and was helping him.
“My mum was entertaining Ellie, my dad was outside ready to flag the ambulance, my brother-in-law was shouting updates from inside out to my dad – it all sounded quite comical downstairs."
Abbie was taken to hospital for checks after the baby was delivered, where she stayed for two nights. She said: “I got to the hospital and was looked at by the doctor before Jax and we were moved down to the ward.
“Aaron left at around 11pm when Grace came to pick him up as he had come to the hospital in the ambulance with us. We didn’t leave the hospital until Tuesday at midday but only because of mild complications – luckily Jax didn’t need monitoring.
“Aaron came and picked us up with Ellie on Tuesday and we got home at about 1ish – and that was when our life as a family of four started.”
A spokesperson for Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust said: “Due to the unpredictable nature of birth, maternity services everywhere can have peaks and troughs of activity. Having one to one care in labour is very important for safety, so when a service is unable to do this, they work with neighbouring hospitals to support with admissions until the peak passes and the service can reopen, this is managed through labour line, they will call back and let the mother know where they can go to birth.
“The length of labour and how it feels varies enormously from person to person and for this reason, some babies will be unexpectedly born before getting to the hospital.”
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