Operator helps deliver new baby

Paramedics were quickly on their way, but baby Sophie was faster

A woman from Belfast is celebrating an unexpected delivery with a little help from an emergency telephone operator.

When Mandy Overson, 26, from Rathcoole, felt a few niggling pains, she put it down to junk eating the night before and not her pregnancy.

When she realised she was in labour and home alone, she phoned for an ambulance.

During the next 11 minutes, Leona Backus, a trained operator, talked her through the birth of her new daughter.

"I felt a wee bit of stomach pain, but I didn't think it was enough to be in labour," Ms Overend explained. But matters changed.

"Leona talked me through what to do and told me to get on to the bed. In the 11 minutes that I was on the phone with her. She helped me deliver the baby. As the paramedics got here, Sophie was born."

In the past, Leona Backus has reassured women who were in labour as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. But it had never got to the delivery stage before.

"I have never had a full live delivery where we actually had a baby at the end of the call," she said.

Emergency operators are trained and have a set of predetermined questions to ask in every case.

We got Sophie delivered, she was safe, breathing, a good colour. Mandy had managed it all by herself and she had been so brave Leona Backus

"The problem with Mandy's situation is that the protocol is designed for two people, for someone to aid the lady when she is in labour," Leona explained.

"Mandy was completely on her own and had no-one else to assist her. I had to adapt to help her through the labour."

For the anxious mother on the other end of the line, Leona's voice was "calm" and "reassuring".

"She talked me through every contraction," she said. "and told me exactly what to do... she helped me deliver the baby."

The two women relived the experience last week, when they met up and were able to listen to the tape of their phone call.

Healthy

"It was very bizarre," said Mandy. "At first, you think was that really happening. I was slightly embarrassed, there was a room full of people."

For Leona, that 11 minute call seemed like a long time.

"We got Sophie delivered, she was safe, breathing, a good colour. Mandy had managed it all by herself and she had been so brave," she said.

"It is a long 11 minutes when you listen to the tape back again.

Leona also met up with the little girl she had helped to deliver.

"She is gorgeous," she said. "It is lovely to see that what we do has fantastic results and that the training we have does actually work."

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