My car crash labour!
Almost born in a car crash!
Saturday 30th August 2008
It all happened so quickly. The bright headlights, the sickening crunch of metal on metal and shattering glass, my body lurching forwards…
'Rowena!' my boyfriend, Duncan Woods, cried.
And then, there was just an eerie silence.
It was 28 May this year, I was 39 weeks pregnant and in labour. My contractions had started seven hours earlier, but I'd been in labour for 24 hours with Ethan, 3, so I hadn't seen any point in hurrying. By midnight, the contractions were coming every five minutes so, having strapped Ethan into the back of our black Rover, Duncan, 30, helped me into the passenger seat. As he tried to fasten the seatbelt over my tummy, an agonising pain shot through me.
'Just get going,' I snapped.
Jamming my foot against the glove compartment, I puffed and panted as he started the engine.
'Hurry up, I need to push!'
I hissed through gritted teeth. We'd been driving for five minutes, when we hit King Street in Leyland.
'Damn!' Duncan said, spotting a lorry in front.
The road was too narrow to overtake, so Duncan flashed his lights to ask the driver to pull over. As he did, and Duncan went to overtake, another car came round the corner, its headlights coming straight for us…
Instinctively, I reached down to protect my bump, then, there was an almighty bang. Heart racing, I looked at Duncan. He looked OK. There was no blood.
'Is Ethan OK?' I gasped, as pains shot through my tummy.
'He's fine,' Duncan replied.
'We've crashed, Mummy!' Ethan babbled.
'Daddy's coming,' I panted. 'Everything's OK.'
Of course, it wasn't.
I'd banged my head and arm, and my chest was agony. But the pain of my injuries was nothing compared to my contractions, which were getting stronger by the second. I could literally feel the baby moving down the birth canal, and I couldn't hold back the overwhelming urge to push.
'The baby's coming!' I screamed, as I doubled over in agony.
Duncan tried his door.
'It's jammed shut,' he said, so he punched his window and reached through the glass, to open his door from the outside.
First, he pulled out Ethan, then he opened my door.
'You'll be OK,' he said. 'Just hold on…'
'I'm trying,' I groaned. 'But I don't know if I can last much longer.'
All I could do was writhe around in agony and try not to push. A passer-by had called an ambulance, but every minute felt like an hour. Eventually, 10 minutes later, the paramedics arrived. Thankfully, the five teenagers who'd been in the other car weren't badly injured, so I was their priority.
'Stand back, sir,' one said to Duncan. 'We're going to get her out.'
Easier said than done. By now, I was so far into labour, there was no way I could just climb out. So first, they bent the passenger door back off its hinges, then I felt hands slip round my waist. Hunched double with pain, I was eased out of the car. I was so relieved.
'Come on, Duncan,' a police officer said. 'I'll drive you and Ethan home.'
Duncan took my hand.
'I won't be long,' he promised.
By then, I was in too much pain to even answer. A paramedic slipped a mask over my face, and I was carried into the back of the ambulance.
'Nearly there now,' he reassured me, as we headed for the Royal Preston Hospital. So I gritted my teeth and tried to breathe. But it was just too much.
'The baby's coming!' I screamed.
The ambulance screeched to a halt on the hard shoulder of the M6, and I gave one almighty push. The baby shot out. A little girl.
'Is she all right?' I panicked, craning my neck to see.
'She's fine,' the paramedic smiled.
'Thank you,' I gulped.
At the hospital, we were checked over, and I learned that she'd been born with the umbilical cord round her neck. Thank goodness the paramedic had been there. She weighed 5lb 11oz and was perfectly healthy.
Duncan arrived half-an-hour later. He'd broken some ribs in the crash, but as soon as he saw our little girl, who we called Jayna, he was smiling again. Luckily, I only had cuts and scrapes, and Ethan was fine. Back at home four days later, the police told us accident investigators had decided both cars were equally responsible for the crash. Now, three months on, I still can't believe I survived a car crash and gave birth on the same day.