From 0 to baby in 2 minutes, as woman gives birth on busy highway
TAUNTON, England (CNN) — A new mother has thanked emergency services for their help as she gave birth to a baby in a car on the side of a busy highway.
On November 1, Jayne Rowland and her partner, Joshua Mogg, were driving along the M5 highway to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, southwest England. Rowland, who was 40 weeks pregnant, was due to be induced in the hospital that morning.
But as they drove along the highway, Rowland’s discomfort turned to pain, and the couple decided to call the emergency services.
“She’s in labor, I think she’s almost about to pop,” Mogg told the operator in a recording of the call released by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. “I’m in the roadworks at 50 miles an hour,” he told the call handler.
Operator Jonathan Leaton told Mogg to slow down, put on his hazard lights and pull over, instructing Mogg not to try to stop the birth.
Just over two minutes after starting the call, Mogg told the operator that the baby had been born.
“Baby’s coming out… baby’s out!” Mogg can be heard saying, later telling the operator that he and his partner would name their new arrival Harry. An ambulance later arrived at the scene.
Baby Harry was born in the front passenger seat of the car at 7.57 a.m, weighing 7 pounds 8 ounces. According to the ambulance service, the baby’s place of birth is recorded on his birth certificate as “M5.”
On Thursday, Rowland and Mogg paid a visit to Taunton Ambulance Station to thank the emergency services staff for their help.
“I just wanted to get to the hospital safely and on time. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realised how much danger we were in, because there was nowhere safe to stop in the roadworks,” Rowland, who works as a teaching assistant, said in a statement.
“I’d had discomfort for around three weeks, and didn’t feel anything different when I woke up that day. But the pain got worse and worse in the car, so I asked Josh to pull over,” she said.
“Everything seemed to happen very quickly. The call handler talked it through with us, and then the paramedics and police arrived. They all made such a difference. We’re so thankful,” she added.