Dad delivers baby in car after wife gives birth during rush hour
A dad had to deliver his baby girl by the side of the road when his wife went into labour in their car during rush hour.
Karla Linkins, 35, was being driven to the hospital by her husband Edd, also 35, when she realised their little girl Darcy-Anne couldn't wait any longer. Edd stopped the car in a housing area in Telford, Shropshire, and called for help but soon he had to help his wife give birth himself.
He caught their new 7lbs 2oz daughter 'as she flew out' so she wouldn't fall on the floor of their Nissan Qashqai. A kind person living nearby came out with blankets to keep Darcy-Anne warm until the paramedics got there and took mum and baby to the hospital. Edd, a Jaguar Land Rover maintenance engineer, said: "It was almost surreal."
"There were moments I was thinking 'am I really doing this is this really happening'. When I was on the phone to 999 saying this baby is coming and then she popped out and I was saying 'I can see the head' and I was thinking I have got to deliver this now because they are not getting here in time. Then one more contraction and Darcy flew straight out and I was able to catch her."
"I could see her steaming because it was only three degrees and I was just thinking I have got to keep her warm. I used a towel to clean her and dry her and then got rid of that and wrapped her in a blanket. I have never been so relieved to see the ambulance coming round the corner I was jumping up and down and making sure they saw us."
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Finley James, six, with his new little sister Darcy-Anne (Shropshire Star/SWNS)"I said 'it's over to you guys now'. Then I was stood on the side of the road, mum and baby were in the ambulance and I was thinking 'are they okay'. I didn't want to knock and eventually one of the paramedics it felt like a lifetime they got out and said 'everything is good with mum and baby you did a good job are you okay to drive and follow us to hospital?'."
Karla, who works as a financial crime consultant, shared that her waters broke early at about 3.50am on Wednesday, February 7. She and her partner went to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) where they were seen but there were no beds free because it was very busy. They chose to go back home to wait for the labour to get further along, planning to return to the hospital later to have the baby.
Karla's mum was there too, ready to take care of their first child, Finley, who is six, and make sure he got to school if they had to hurry to the hospital. After getting home at 7am, it wasn't long before they had to leave again. Karla explained: "Obviously Finley had school that day so he came downstairs and was having breakfast on the sofa and there's me walking round having random contractions with my mum frantically writing down the time I was having them. About 7.50am things really started happening and I said 'if we do not get to the hospital then I am having this baby on the carpet'."
The Linkins family all together at home (Shropshire Star/SWNS)Karla shared that their race to the hospital was filled with obstacles, hitting 'every red light' and getting stuck in rush hour traffic. Edd was begging her to hold on until they reached the hospital. She said: "I was having contractions on the way and I had another by the Morrisons in Lawley. At this point I was saying 'this baby is going to be born in the car' and Edd was saying 'we are five minutes from the hospital, please can you just wait'."
"I said 'no' and he rang the ambulance it was rush hour, there was traffic everywhere, every traffic light seemed to be red. I said 'you need to get off the road' because the ambulance was going to need a street name to find us. He managed to pull up on the side of the road I said this baby is going to be born and the next contraction she was born and Edd caught her as she came out before she hit the floor."
Karla didn't know if the baby was a boy or a girl at first, but she also mentioned how a kind stranger provided them with blankets. At this point Edd knew she was a girl but I had not noticed and I was going 'what is it, what is it'. As that happened a really kind lady came over, we don't know if she was on the way to work or walking a dog but she was passing blankets to us."
The Linkins family in front of their Nissan Qashqai that Darcy-Anne was born in (Shropshire Star/SWNS)"Then the ambulance turned around the corner and I don't think Edd has ever been so pleased to see a blue-light vehicle. He was jumping around all over the place trying to flag them down." Back at home by half three, Ed was even able to go and pick up Finley from school giving him the chance to meet his new sister for the first time.
Karla also had kind words for the ambulance service and the women's and children's unit at the hospital. She added: "The ambulance service were so wonderful. They were with us within ten minutes and obviously the women and children's unit and our midwife looked after us so well, they were brilliant."
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