I gave birth in an Aldi car park after my waters broke on the school run, luckily a midwife had popped in for yoghurt
IF you’ve ever shopped at Aldi, you’ll know just how easy it is to come away with extra items.
Rather than finding an unexpected item in the bagging area though, an off-duty midwife ended up helping to deliever a baby in the supermarket’s car park.
Like many Aldi shoppers, Sarah Hamilton had nipped in for a few essentials but came away with a lot more.
The off-duty midwife had popped in for some yoghurt but was unexpectedly called into action after hearing the commotion outside.
Dashing outside she saw Jane Martin in labour with her husband Aiden, 37, receiving instructions on how to deliver the baby over the phone.
At the time, the couple had been on the school run when the postwoman's waters broke.
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Miles from Furness General Hospital in Barrow, Cumbria, where she was due to give birth, the 33-year-old’s husband desperately tried to get them there.
As he drove down the A590, Aiden knew they weren’t going to make it in time and pulled into the Aldi car park.
Jane recalled: "When my waters broke we were going through Ulverston - that was panic stations.
"Her head pushed my waters out - I knew we didn't have very long.
"I think it was more stressful for Aiden to get me there. I was going through the motions.
"I'm thinking about myself, he's having to think about the road, making sure I'm okay."
It was there that they met Sarah, an off-duty midwife, who had been shopping at the Aldi before rushing into action.
Jane later told press: "The midwife was asking where we had got to, so I'm shouting in between contractions, 'grange roundabout’.”
Having had a difficult first birth, Jane had hoped that her third birth would be easier – little did she know though how quickly her little one would come.
Just 90 minutes later, the proud mum welcomed her third child with Sarah supporting her.
She said: "I wasn't scared at all, weirdly. Luckily it was my third natural labour, so I knew roughly what to expect and I know my own body.
“I was just going through the motions.”
"Afterwards I felt relieved it was a quick labour and everything was okay. My first labour was 16 hours and ended with forceps, which I wasn't keen to do again,” the postwoman explained.
She joked: "Although having to give birth in an Aldi car park was definitely not what I was expecting."
Amazingly, her daughter Audra was healthy, other than needing to be warmed up, and weighed 9lb 2oz.
Jane added: "Audra was fine, we were never separated. She got warmed up with me.”
Heart-warmingly, the off-duty midwife was just as ecstatic with Jane later saying: "I think it made her day. She was buzzing afterwards."
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After such a dramatic delivery, Sarah asked to fill in for Jane and Audra's midwife permanently, as she had 'already been there'.
We are just glad that there was someone to help with this very unexpected delivery.
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