Mother:Andrea Moran, adult education co-ordinator
Father:Sean Moran, teacher
Baby:Sophie, born 9 August, 2009
From:Co Carlow
Andrea: "I was overdue my baby by five days when I woke up with minor pains on the Sunday. I knew they were the start of the labour but I wasn't too worried and presumed it was early on in the labour. As they got worse I rang the hospital but they weren't too fussed either. My husband dropped Ross, our two-year-old, to my mother's house. Sean left our house at about half eight in the morning and was back by about ten to nine, by which time I'd gone from being crampy to being in severe pain and my waters had broken. So we set off straight away for the Coombe in Dublin, with me in the back seat.
"The pain got so bad on the road to Dublin that I told Sean to ring an ambulance because the baby was coming quicker than I'd thought. We were in Castledermot in Carlow at that stage and the ambulance said they'd meet us there. Then as we pulled into an Esso petrol station baby Sophie arrived. Sean got out of the car and into the back seat with us. He didn't tell me at the time but the cord was around her neck and she was kind of dangling. I was totally oblivious. He unravelled it and started shouting for help. The Waterford vs Kilkenny match was on that day, I think it was the semi-final, so there was nobody local around. Everybody was just passing through and getting their breakfast rolls!
"A man and his wife came over to help us, Margaret was the lady's name, and she sat into the car with me and helped deliver the placenta. There was no panic. We actually laughed and joked together. The lady from the garage even came out and offered me a cup of tea. I put Sophie on my chest to keep her warm and the ambulance arrived 15 minutes later. Sean was so calm throughout but I'd no idea how worried he really was. He wasn't sure if she'd been damaged because of the cord around her neck. Thankfully she was perfect and weighed in at 8lbs. We were both out of the Coombe in three days. I don't know how to explain why I was so relaxed about the whole thing. I guess natural instinct just took over."
Mother: Nicola Madden, full-time mother
Father: Dave Madden, former Intel employee
Baby: Conor, born 29 November, 2009
From: Tallaght, Dublin
Nicola: "To be honest, I still can't get my head around it. I'd a few pains when I was watching a DVD with my husband Dave but I wasn't due for another two weeks so I wasn't too worried. I rang the Coombe and they didn't seem too worried either. But my mam who lives nearby said she'd bring me into the Coombe to be checked out, just in case. I got my sister over to stay with my other two lads, Noel who's 15 and Sean who's 12. I'd started to run a bath when the pains got worse. My waters broke as I made my way down from our top-floor apartment to my mam's Punto and we'd only driven about 10 feet from our building when the baby's head popped out. Mam stopped the car in a panic and called an ambulance. I reckon I'd gotten down the stairs from the apartment in about six minutes and delivered Conor in about three minutes, so it was over in less than 10 minutes.
"Conor whimpered a bit at first after he was born but then there was nothing. He'd stopped breathing. The cord was wrapped tightly around his neck and he was born face down. It was terrible. I couldn't undo the cord. It was wrapped too tight and I was afraid I'd damage or hurt him if I tried too hard so we had to wait for the ambulance. The fire brigade arrived first. They were brilliant. They got into the back of the car and cut the cord straight away. Then they resuscitated him and gave him oxygen. By the time we got to the Coombe he looked more pink than blue. He'd a little bit of hypothermia though because the weather was so bad that night. It was the weekend of the floods in November and it was lashing rain.
"Conor spent a week in intensive care because some of the blood from the placenta had travelled back into his tummy through the cord because he was attached to me for so long.
"My mam and husband were absolutely shocked during the whole ordeal. But mam said that I was calm and was just barking orders at them to wrap Conor up in a coat. I think I was just gobsmacked. I think I still am. I haven't really had time to sit down and think about what happened that night." ?
Mother: Patricia Keane, hairdresser
Father: John Keane, part-time farmer and sales rep
Baby: Ryan, born 5 February, 2008
From: Kilbaha, Co Clare
Patricia: "I'd had pains in my back all day but it was only when I woke up at about 12.30am to one of my young fellas' crying that I realised the pains had gotten worse, and within the space of half an hour I knew I was definitely in labour – a week early. So we got John's mother to come over and look after the kids. Luckily she only lives across the road.
"Just before we left the house, I got a pain that was so bad, I thought to myself, 'The last time I had a pain like that I was in the labour ward', which wasn't ideal. We're over 70 miles from the nearest maternity hospital in Limerick and the roads aren't great, so when you're getting pains, you really feel every turn and every bump.
"By the time we'd reached the village of Lissycasey, which is 15 minutes from Ennis, my waters had broken and we only got another four to five miles before I had to tell John to stop the car because the baby was coming. John was frantic. He tried to ring the emergency services and panicked when he couldn't get a signal. In the end he gave up and pulled in the car. He opened the door, I pulled off my leggings and Ryan's head came out. I grabbed him, gave a little pull and out he came. I made sure that the cord wasn't anywhere near his neck and put him on my chest.
"Luckily we had a towel with us to wrap him up. Baby Ryan seemed quite unconcerned through all this and just kept looking at us. We finally got through to Ennis hospital and told them we were on our way. When we got there they put Ryan in an incubator and sent us to Limerick by ambulance.
"I wasn't traumatised because I'm very easygoing. I just dealt with the pain and told myself we'd get to the hospital on time. Looking back now it's easy to say it wasn't scary because everything turned out okay. We were very lucky.
"I've two other children, Emma who's five and Cormac who's three, and every time we pass the spot at the side of the road we all say, 'Oh that's where Ryan was born!' He's still such a bundle of energy. That boy has never stopped being in a hurry."
Mother: Eileen Fitzhenry, civil servant
Father: Stephen Fitzhenry, security officer
Baby: Holly, born 3 November, 2009
From: Boyle, Co Roscommon
Eileen: "I woke up in severe pain at 5am in the morning and realised I was going into labour. I was supposed to be induced later that day at Sligo hospital but the baby was now coming of its own accord. Even though I knew I was in labour, I'd no idea how fast it was all going to happen. By the time my husband Stephen was up and dressed at twenty past five I told him that he'd better call an ambulance because I wouldn't make it to Sligo in time.
"We live on a housing estate on the outskirts of Boyle and it can be hard to find the house because the roads are similar. Stephen had to run down the road and frantically direct the ambulance to the house. He was quite out of breath by the time the ambulance pulled up outside and we were all in bit of panic. My mum was there as well, looking after our other two boys, Luke (6) and Jake (2), and I think she was in a little bit of shock.
"I'd only managed to make it to the ambulance door when my waters broke and Holly was literally born within two seconds of getting into the ambulance; all 7lbs 1oz of her. One of the paramedics was a trained midwife and she was wonderful. I felt very reassured. But my poor mum actually saw the baby being born because the ambulance door was open and it happened so fast. She has 15 grandchildren but Holly's the first she's ever seen being born and I'm sure she doesn't want to see another one born like that!
"I found out afterwards that Holly was born at five past six so the labour was literally an hour from start to finish. My other two pregnancies were induced so she caught us completely by surprise. Once the paramedics cut the cord in the ambulance, they rushed us to Sligo hospital but everything was fine.
"Thankfully the neighbours slept through the commotion outside the house but the story travelled around the town and we became quite well known for it.
"Now whenever Luke and Jake see an ambulance, they say, 'That's where Holly was born.' None of us will ever forget that night. It's forever etched on our brains."
Mother: Fionnuala Robinson, legal secretary
Father: Cormac Robinson, website designer
Baby: Joe, 28 October 2008
From: Swords, Co Dublin
Fionnuala: "It was a Wednesday night around 5.30am and I kept waking up having to go to the toilet. I didn't think anything of it. I just kept going back to bed but it became relentless. Then I started to feel pressure and a kind of pushing sensation so I eventually copped on that I could be in labour. I woke Cormac, my husband, and told him. The baby wasn't due for a week.
My mother, who was staying with us, came into the toilet with me, something she hadn't done since I was a child, and rubbed my back as the discomfort came and went. Suddenly I felt something drop. I put my hand down and caught the head of the baby. I was in a total panic and didn't know what to do. My mother ran out to get Cormac and he rang 999 for help. The guy from emergency services came on the line and Cormac put him on loud speaker. He started to talk me through it and said that if I felt a strong urge to push, just push. So I did. I pushed and the baby came out. The baby didn't make any sound at first, which was scary, but then he did and we knew he was fine.
The operator told Cormac to get a clothes peg to clamp the cord but in the meantime the fire brigade arrived and took over. My mother had looked at the baby initially and said it was girl, so I thought I'd had a girl but the fire brigade looked down as they were wrapping the baby in towels and told us it was actually a boy!
"The whole situation was very surreal. You read these stories and you never think it will never happen to you. Five minutes after I felt the head drop, Joe was born. I didn't even have terrible labour pains, unlike the birth of my first child Emily, who's two and a half now. In one way Joe's sudden 8lb 11oz arrival was great but in another I'd have preferred being in hospital with the usual scenario, just for security. Even with a long labour!"
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