News

Baby born in car en route to Randburg hospital

Father reluctant to be present at birth delivers his own daughter

Monday, February 1 2016

A healthy baby girl made a surprising debut into the world on Wednesday morning when she was safely born in a car as her parents rushed to Netcare Olivedale Hospital in Randburg.

“When the family arrived at the hospital, the beautiful baby girl was lying on her mother’s chest, swaddled in a towel,” general manager of Netcare Olivedale Hospital, Bets Welman says.

“The proud parents told staff how the birth unexpectedly happened as they were driving to our hospital to seek reassurance from the maternity sisters that everything was alright with the baby, even though the due date was only on 9 February.”

At around 01h00 on Wednesday, 27 January, the mother, Mrs Tshepiso Mbambisa, began to feel somewhat uncomfortable. She initially dismissed the physical symptoms she was experiencing as Braxton Hicks contractions, which are a normal aspect of pregnancy due to the uterus tightening from time to time.

“Mrs Mbambisa had a check-up appointment scheduled with her gynaecologist for 13h30 on Wednesday, however, being a first-time mother, she decided it would be best to go to the hospital a few hours earlier to be on the safe side. As she did not realise quite how imminent the happy arrival was, she had a bath before setting off,” Welman explains.

The father became concerned because the contractions were coming regularly and so he settled his wife into the car without delay and began driving her to the hospital, only to be caught up in the morning traffic, which slowed their journey.

“We understand that the father initially had not planned to be present at the birth, and that Mrs Mbambisa’s mother was going to be her birthing partner. In the event, it seems that Mr Mbambisa’s daughter had other plans as, on the way to Netcare Olivedale Hospital, Mrs Mbambisa felt the need to start pushing and soon realised that the baby’s head was crowning,” Welman relates.

“Mr Mbambisa had to park on the side of the road, and ultimately delivered his daughter himself at approximately 07h15.”

“The mother later quipped that the other drivers must have seen her legs as she had to assume a position that was conducive to labour, but rather unconventional for travelling in a car.”

On arrival at Netcare Olivedale Hospital, the hospital’s midwives were ready to help Mrs Mbambisa to deliver the placenta and cut the umbilical cord. The baby, who weighed 2.8kgs, was placed in a crib and Mrs Mbambisa was carefully assisted into a wheelchair and admitted to the maternity ward.

“The proud parents have named their little bundle of joy Julile, and both mother and baby are doing very well. The family told us that the grandmother, who was initially expecting to be present at the birth, had expressed her wish that the baby would be born on a Wednesday because this was her day off from work. In this respect little Julile obliged,” Welman concluded.

Ends

Issued by: Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA) on behalf of Netcare Olivedale Hospital
Contact : Martina Nicholson, Graeme Swinney, Meggan Saville or Devereaux Morkel
Telephone: (011) 469 3016
Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]