By Bryan Henesey
The Nottingham Evening Post
STAPLEFORD, Nottinghamshire, UK — A dad had to break through a door before helping his partner give birth to their son on the bathroom floor.
Brent Farrell, 35, forced open the locked bathroom to help Amy Cray, 34, after her waters broke.
The couple had been preparing to leave their home in Horace Avenue, Stapleford, on Thursday morning and head to the Queen’s Medical Centre after Miss Cray went into labour at around 4.30am.
But before they could set off, her waters broke at 6.45am and she gave birth to baby Sebastian at 7.13am, with the help of Mr Farrell.
Ambulance staff arrived 15 minutes later.
Mr Farrell said: “I awoke at 5.30am to find Amy timing her contractions using her mobile phone. “She was fine with them and they weren’t hurting too much, but it made us think we had to get ready to go to hospital.
“With that in mind, we went downstairs and had a cup of tea, but the contractions started to get closer together at around 6.45am.
“She went to the bathroom and was in a lot of pain, so I started packing the car ready to go to hospital.
“Amy then shouted her waters had broken, and she was in so much pain that she couldn’t move.” Mr Farrell, who was made redundant as a construction worker last year, said he phoned the labour suite at the QMC at 7.04am to say they were on their way.
He added: “They overheard Amy and said I needed to call an ambulance as we were not going to make it in time. I called 999 and they said the ambulance was on its way, but I could see the baby’s head.
“At 7.13am I delivered Sebastian, and the ambulance turned up at 7.30am.
“It was crazy. We weren’t panicking - it happened so fast that I just got stuck in.
“When the ambulance arrived, the staff were surprised to see I had already done the job.”
The ambulance technicians clamped Sebastian’s umbilical cord and allowed Mr Farrell to cut it. They then took mother and baby to the QMC to be checked over. Miss Cray and Sebastian, who weighed just over 8lb, were allowed to return home at 6.30pm after both were given the all clear. The couple have known each other for around 17 years and have been together for over a year. New mum-of-two Miss Cray said her other son, seven-year-old Alex, was enjoying having a little brother.
She works as a staff nurse in the vascular surgery ward at the QMC and had been due to give birth to Sebastian on Good Friday. She said: “I woke up at 4.30am and was having a few contractions, so I was timing them in bed. “We went downstairs to watch TV. I decided I needed to go to the toilet and as I sat down my waters broke. “I shouted for Brent. I had locked myself in the bathroom and he had to break the door to get in. “I got on to my knees and I could feel my baby’s head. Brent then got me on to my back and I gave birth. “I never thought it would happen so quickly. It was literally over in less than 30 minutes. Sebastian is fine — he’s a perfect, healthy baby.”
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