Yahoo News 'My husband joked 'don't be that lady who gives birth in the living room' - my baby had other plans'
“Don’t be that lady who gives birth on the living room floor!” Alex joked with his wife, Alice, as they nervously began to understand that the birth of their second child was not as far away as they first thought.
The couple had previously welcomed son Harry, aged three, smoothly and never anticipated that they would become second-time parents not at hospital, but in their Trafford home. But within minutes, Alex was calling 999 and being guided by North West Ambulance Service staff on how to deliver his child at home.
Mum Alice Young was left terrified as she was giving birth ‘thinking of all the things that could go wrong’, dad Alex Langton could think of nothing following the instructions of a stranger over the phone, and little Harry was up past his bedtime happily playing upstairs. Like any other parents, they had a plan to welcome their baby surrounded by midwives and doctors in hospital.
But that meant nothing as baby Maeve ‘had other plans’, said the family one year on as they reunited with the frontline emergency workers who helped to bring their little girl safely into the world.
Alex, now 37, and Alice, now 34, were putting their toddler son to bed on November 17, 2023, when Alice started feeling her contractions suddenly ramping up, a week overdue. Harry, who had also been overdue, had taken many hours to arrive, Alice remembered, and the mum had been told by doctors that her early contractions during her second pregnancy were safe to stay at home with for the time being.
The parents were sticking to the plan of welcoming their child at Wythenshawe Hospital. That was until Alice's waters broke ‘like a movie’.
The mum says she knew at that moment that ‘she didn’t have long’ before the baby would be born, with her ‘gut feeling telling her that something had shifted’. The couple quickly rang the hospital, where staff advised that based on what Alice was experiencing, they needed to call for an ambulance.
"I was feeling really scared," Alice told the Manchester Evening News. "I was thinking of everything that could go wrong, I really didn't want to give birth to her at home, but I didn't have a choice. She had other plans."
Alex rang 999 and bravely followed instructions – in just 11 minutes on the phone with an emergency medical advisor, Alice was giving birth and Alex was ‘catching’ his newborn baby.
Emergency medical advisor Rebecca Angell told of the ‘incredible’ phone call where she talked the family through the birth of Maeve, making sure she kept communication flowing as she could not see for herself exactly what was taking place. All the time asking questions to rule out the possibility of major problems with mum and baby, Rebecca marked the moment with a ‘congratulations’ to the parents, reading out over the phone the time Maeve came into the world.
At the same time, paramedics who had rushed to the home in an ambulance were knocking on the family’s door and, once the baby was in Alex’s arms, could be let in to provide emergency medical care.
The nine pound and three ounce baby had just let out its first screams and, as paramedic Phil Turner says, ‘for us, a screaming baby is a good baby’ in those first few moments of life. Paramedic Kelly Garratt scooped up baby Maeve, checked her over and had the honour of being the first to get some newborn cuddles as she dried the healthy little one off and wrapped her up.
"It has to be one of the best parts of the job – newborn cuddles," said Kelly.
But the emergencies didn’t stop there. Paramedic Phil and senior paramedic Ryan Turner rushed to mum Alice, taking care of her and responding to an unfolding postpartum hemorrhage. The family went to hospital, with dad Alex scrambling to grab the car seat that was ready and waiting in the family car to instead use for hour-old Maeve in the back of the ambulance.
The family arrived at hospital where they continued to receive care from a team of midwives and doctors who ‘seamlessly’ took over, said Alice.
A year on from that incredible moment, Alice wrote to North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) to pay tribute to the emergency workers that day. And luckily, the ambulance service was able to arrange a reunion of all the people who were part of the exciting start to Maeve’s life.
Hugs, smiles and thanks flowed today (December 12) at the NWAS headquarters in Manchester as Alex, Alice, Harry and Maeve met with Rebecca, Phil, Ryan, and Kelly. Rebecca shared with the family how Maeve will always have a special place in her heart, being ‘the first baby she ever delivered over the phone’, and most likely the ‘only one’, as the former emergency medical advisor has now moved from the NWAS call centre to being out on the roads in ambulances.
"We see a lot of the upsetting moments in people's lives. It's so nice if there's something good that comes out of our work. It's a privilege that we'll forever be part of this story," said paramedics Phil and Ryan.
The family were able to bring Maeve home from the hospital and enjoy a festive Christmas together, 'so grateful' to all those who had helped Maeve into the world. A year on, Alice said: “It’s been great to be able to say thank you to everyone who supported us when Maeve decided to arrive unexpectedly last year.
“Rebecca was amazing. She kept my husband calm, gave clear instructions, and talked him through delivering our baby - and the paramedics arrived shortly afterwards and helped get me to the hospital as I was having a haemorrhage. All were absolutely amazing, and we could not be more grateful to the service.
“Maeve is thriving and is a bouncy, healthy little girl. She just celebrated her first birthday, and it’s lovely to mark it by being reunited with the people who helped bring her into the world.
“The story of how she was born is already making her a local celebrity!"
“We had ordered a takeaway before it all happened. A few hours later the takeaway called us asking if we were actually going to collect the food, we had to tell them we’d actually had a baby since we’d ordered!" remembered Alice.
The couple marked the anniversary of the Maeve’s surprise arrival by ordering and finally eating that Thai takeaway they never got to have.
