A Goodna mum has safely delivered her baby girl in the back seat of her car during a labour that lasted just minutes.
Jacqueline Atherton felt a few pains in the morning but didn’t think much of it until her waters broke in the family car, just after 8am on September 9.
Ms Atherton was heading to Mater Mothers’ Hospital in South Brisbane for a pre-natal check-up, but the family made a detour to Mater Hospital Springfield after realising things were moving more quickly than they expected.
“I started pushing, maybe two minutes after that – maybe three pushes, she was fully out,” said Ms Atherton.
“I was just holding her, and my partner pulled over – the cord was around her neck a little bit – he then unwrapped it and placed her on top of me and we drove straight to Springfield.”
The couple’s two daughters, aged one and four, were also in the car when the drama unfolded.
“I was just trying to focus, make sure my baby was breathing and she didn't have anything in her airways,” said Ms Atherton.
“It was a lot, but I was really happy when I had her safely in my arms and when she was on my chest she kind of just went back to sleep – she was just really calm.”
When the family pulled into the hospital’s emergency bay they flagged down Enrolled Nurse Grace Bamford, who had only just begun very first shift at Mater Hospital Springfield after qualifying as a nurse with Mater Education.
“I had left my lunch in my car and had gone down to get it when I just saw someone with their door open waving at me,” said Ms Bamford.
“He said ‘Umm, my partner just had a baby, can you please give me a hand?’ – I just ran into triage, which thankfully was right there, to alert them.
“I’m not a midwife or ED nurse, so I didn’t know how much I could assist, but I just went back to the car and stood with them to make sure everyone was OK and could see the baby was fully out on mum’s chest.
“Within seconds everyone was bolting out to help – it was a little bit frantic!
“I've learnt my lesson. Don't forget my lunch.”
Ms Atherton said she was grateful that Mater Hospital Springfield, which opened in May, was available to help.
“If we had gotten on that highway at that time in the morning, there would have been so much traffic, and we would have literally just been sitting on the side of the road waiting,” she said.
“So, to have Springfield hospital here is really good.”
The healthy little girl weighed 3065 grams and is named Mirra.
“My partner’s name is Mirrigian – he’s named after a star - so we decided to name her Mirra after his name,” said Ms Atherton.
“It was all a bit crazy – we’ve now laughed about how it all happened.
“I never thought I would have a baby in the car on the way to the hospital – but it was an experience, one that I won't forget.”
