Hospital heroes reunited with baby born in car park

The birth of any child is memorable but Katie Good says she will never forget the moment her son arrived unexpectedly in a hospital car park.

Now Katie and partner James Gingell, of Peterborough, have been reunited with the two hospital workers who came to their aid as Oliver was born outside Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

Healthcare assistant Sam Craigie and interim deputy divisional nursing director Ana Jardim happened to be outside and rushed to help when they heard screams.

Katie, 38, said: "We've thought about them so often over the last few months, so having the opportunity to thank them in person was incredibly emotional and something we'll never forget."

Oliver was born on a cold Saturday morning, just before 02:00 BST on 4 April, with help from Sam and Ana before a team from the emergency department arrived.

Katie said he "shot out" when her waters broke.

"I just remember being on the floor of the car park. I think I was a little bit, obviously, in shock," she said.

"But I remember hearing reassuring voices and asking, 'Is it a boy or is it a girl?'

"I think it was Sam who said, 'It's a boy.'"

James, 44, said events unfolded so quickly that there was little time to process them.

"Katie had the most epic contraction, and she lets out this scream and it literally echoed around the entire car park, and then she says to me, 'The baby's coming!'

"I think at that point Sam had arrived and was cutting her pyjamas.

"I was expecting to see the baby being delivered but as the pyjamas came off, the baby was already there. Sam's coat came off and that was used to wrap the baby.

"At this point we were on the tarmac of the car park and I remember looking up and seeing the team from the emergency department running across the car park with a trolley."

The family were then taken inside the hospital, where mother and baby were checked over and found to be well.

Ana and Sam said it had been an experience they could never forget.

"We just stood there a couple of seconds staring at the baby and going, 'You're all in one piece – great. Crying, that's what we like; that's good,'" said Ana.

"We had just been through a huge adrenaline rush, using our knowledge and carrying out quick clinical assessments, while dealing with the emotional side of it all.

"It's a child, it's a woman, it's an exposed cold night, it's something completely unexpected."

Sam said it was a case of "right place, right time".

"I think as soon as we both realised that it was fine, that mum wasn't bleeding, baby was now wrapped in the uniform and there were towels on the way, our brains started to wind down," he said.

"For me, it was more a case of what just happened?"

He said he had kept his stained uniform, which has been washed several times since, as a "memento".

The couple, who have another son, William, six, also both work for the NHS.

They were reunited with Sam and Ana at the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust Outstanding Achievement Awards ceremony, held at Peterborough Cathedral, after nominating them in the Health Heroes category.

"To be able to see them at the awards ceremony was absolutely fantastic, and to relive that experience and share it, and actually calmly speak with them and meet Oliver, was amazing," said Ana.

Sam added: "We just did what anybody else on shift would have done, regardless of whether you're midwifery-trained or not."

James and Katie said they remained grateful to everyone involved, including a porter, Gary, who helped gather their belongings from across the car park after the birth.

James added: "In what could have been a moment of panic, Sam and Ana's composure and kindness brought an immediate sense of safety.

"It all worked out well, obviously, but it could have been very different, so we are grateful for everybody."

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