It was a rush to get Taylor’s best friend Emily to hospital in time…
I was putting my baby, Bloom, to sleep when my pal Emily came round.
Inseparable since we
were four, we now lived just minutes from each other.
Emily was pregnant with
her second child, and I was on maternity leave from my job as
a midwife.
Although I’d missed the birth of Emily’s first child, Evie, this time I was thrilled I was going to be Emily’s birthing partner.
Two days before her due date, Emily video-called me.
‘My contractions have started,’ she said.
The hospital had told her to stay home, so she tried
to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, she texted, Help!
‘Emily needs me,’ I told my partner, Ty.
Grabbing my bag, I drove to her mum’s.
Her partner Aaron took Evie inside while I checked on Emily.
‘Just breathe,’ I said.
I was sure there was still time to get to the hospital.
‘If the baby comes, pull over,’
I half-joked to Aaron before
we left.
Emily’s mum Katie gave me some gloves.
‘Just in case!’ she laughed.
I followed Emily and Aaron in my car.
After five minutes on the road, my phone rang.
Through awful reception, I could just hear Aaron.
‘Pull over!’ he said.
His hazard lights came on and he pulled into a lay-by.
I parked behind them.
As Emily’s door was flung open, I heard a familiar groan.
'If the baby comes, pull over'
‘My waters have broken,’
she said.
I ran over while Aaron dialled 999.
‘Let’s get your trousers off,’
I said.
Emily was doing well, but
she was anxious.
‘Where’s the ambulance?’
she repeated.
‘It’s OK, you’ve got me with you,’ I replied.
I pushed her seat back and turned the heaters up full blast.
A woman from the house opposite ran out with towels, and I grabbed Bloom’s baby blanket from my car.
With my gloves on, I guided Emily’s legs apart.
Suddenly she moaned and pushed.
The baby’s head was crowning!
I knew then that everything was going to be straightforward.
But there was one worry…
Her waters were green. It was because the baby had passed its first faeces, which could cause problems if it breathed it in, but I kept quiet.
Off the phone, Aaron held a torch so I could see better.
At last a baby girl – who Emily named Mabel – was born, followed by a gush of green fluid.
It was like Shrek’s swamp!
I placed Mabel on Emily’s chest, rubbing her gently with Bloom’s blanket.
‘She’s not breathing,’ Emily said.
‘Wait,’ Aaron soothed.
Relief washed over us as Mabel let out a little cry.
I could see the relief on Emily’s face too.
Reaching into my bag for a little crochet bear hat that I’d made, I put it on Mabel’s head.
When a medic arrived, I clamped Mabel’s cord as
Aaron cut it.
Then we video-called Emily’s mum.
‘She’s had the baby already!’ she cried.
‘But you only left
20 minutes ago!’
Mabel and Aaron went in one ambulance, while I stayed with Emily in the other.
Pale and bleeding heavily,
she went very quiet as she was rushed to hospital.
I kept her spirits up by showing her photos of Mabel.
We met Aaron there and went to the delivery suite, where Emily delivered her placenta and the bleeding stopped.
Back home, Emily texted me.
I love you. Thanks so much, she said
She’s so beautiful. I’m so proud of you, I replied.
The next evening, Emily and
Mabel came home, and I visited them the following day, having another cuddle with Mabel.
Now, they’re doing great, and Emily and I are closer than ever.
We’re getting the girls matching outfits for Christmas, and we’re going out for a meal on New Year’s Eve.
When Mabel is old enough, Emily will tell her all about
how Auntie Taylor helped her
to arrive.
After all, it was some delivery!
Taylor Cassidy, 24, Norfolk