Parents reunited with paramedics who delivered baby on bedroom floor at Smethwick home
Delighted parents of a baby born on their bedroom floor have been reunited with the paramedics who helped deliver their son.
Mum Phoebe’s waters unexpectedly broke at her Smethwick home, she and father Antony knew there was no time to get to hospital and rang 999 explaining Phoebe was in labour.
Despite the unexpected location of the birth, baby Lenny was safely delivered on their bedroom floor by West Midlands Ambulance paramedic’s James Smith and Cheryl Lee alongside student paramedics, Bryan Luke and Elizabeth Czyz and on Thursday, they were reunited at Hollymoor Hub, Rubery.
James said: “Phoebe showed incredible calmness and strength throughout the birth, and I take great pride in knowing I’ve been able to assist them in safely delivering their son.
“Before I trained as a paramedic, I had witnessed a person going into labour in a public place and remember how helpless I felt, and how relieved I felt when the paramedics arrived that day, which is what inspired me to train.
“This time around, I was the person arriving and I had the skills and knowledge to help them the best I could, and I am so thrilled to see them happy and healthy.”
Phoebe showed her deep appreciation for the ambulance staff and had made it her mission to find the crews and thank them, Phoebe said: “Despite how fast everything happened and it not going to our ‘plan’, the team enabled us to have such a positive birth.
“They respected all of my preferences and ensured I could cuddle Lenny straight away which was so important to me. I feel incredibly lucky that I had a birth I will always be able to look back on so fondly.”
Cheryl said: “We are trained to deliver a baby if we need to, but this is the first time I’ve done it, so seeing such a positive outcome is fantastic. I am so happy to see both Phoebe and baby Lenny doing so well.
“Being a part of their journey is such a special moment in my career that I will never forget.”
Father Antony added: “When the crews arrived, they made Phoebe feel calm and safe from the moment they arrived and have allowed us to have a healthy and happy baby and Mum, in what could have been dangerous and scary circumstances for us.
“It was great to meet them again with Lenny. We’re very grateful and cannot thank them enough.”
Student Paramedic, Bryan said: “Knowing we were able to have such a positive impact through the use of our training is amazing, and being able to meet Phoebe, Antony and Lenny again is a great experience so early on in my career.”
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