A QUICK thinking woman was on hand to help her sister-in-law deliver her baby son - in the front room.
Sian Littlewood, 26, of Attlee Crescent, Darfield, had gone to drop her children with her mother-in-law Katherine Levitt, on Hall Street, Wombwell while she went to purchase a wardrobe.
When she arrived last Wednesday afternoon her sister-in-law Rachael Bennett was in the living room experiencing labour pains and Sian began to time Rachael’s contractions, which at the time were three minutes apart.
Moments later, Rachael’s waters broke and with not much time to spare, Sian took matters into her own hands.
She said: “As soon as Rachael’s waters broke I ran upstairs to get some towels to cover her modesty. We had called 999 and we escorted the children out of the living room into the kitchen where they stayed with my father-in-law and my partner and Katherine stayed in the room with me.
“Rachael’s partner Anthony had just made it back in time from work and by this time Rachael was saying she needed to push.
“We were told by the 999 operator to pull Rachael’s trousers down and when I did the head was already out.
“The operator told me what I had to do and Rachael did an amazing job of delivering our nephew.
“Once he was out the paramedics arrived and took over.
“It was very quick and once the adrenaline had worn off I was shaking - I couldn’t believe what had just happened but I was in autopilot and my main concern was making sure the baby was delivered safely and Rachael was OK.”
The paramedics took Rachael and baby Theo, who weighed 8lbs 2oz, to hospital where the two were checked over and later discharged.
Rachael, 31, of Hall Street, Wombwell said: “I’d gone to see the midwife early Wednesday morning and I was told I would be going for a sweep on Saturday if things did not start moving. At 11.20am I began to feel a twinge.
“The pain was around 15 to 20 minutes apart so I didn’t think more of it.
“At around 3pm I went for a bath and at 4pm I called Katherine to ask if I could take my daughter round.
“The pain was still fairly mild so I drove round at 4.30pm.
“From that point on everything seemed to move along so quickly.
“Sian monitored my contractions and I called Anthony who said he was passing Meadowhall.
“At 5.30pm I felt the biggest pressure and my waters broke. At 5.38pm Theo was born.
“The whole experience was a blur but I am so glad that Sian was on hand to help me deliver my baby, even if it was in my mother-in-law’s living room.
“I have a high pain threshold so it never occurred to me that I would have been giving birth so soon because when I had my daughter I was banging my head against a wall trying to cope with the pain.
“I couldn’t have asked for better people to support me. Everyone was so calm and I’m grateful that he was delivered safely.
“It’s definitely one experience none of us will forget.”
