A nurse who thought she had appendicitis was stunned to welcome a baby daughter after she gave birth at home after a 12-hour shift.
Emma Hindmarsh, 31, had no idea she was pregnant. She felt unwell after
finishing a hectic day in a complex care unit at a hospital.
When the pains she was experiencing got worse, she called an ambulance to
her home in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.
But before paramedics could arrive, Emma, with the help of husband Daniel, had delivered baby Isabelle in their bedroom.
The baby was born weighing 5lb 8oz and was thought to be around five weeks early, but she and her mum are both doing well. Emma and Daniel, who already have a little boy, Oliver, are now getting used to the idea of being a bigger family.
‘She’s here and she’s tiny but perfect and I don’t think it mattered what happened, she was coming into the world at that time,’ says Emma.
‘Something didn’t feel right and I thought it could be my appendix because the pain was really sharp.
‘We spoke to 111 and they agreed that was possible and they did an assessment, to see if we could save going to hospital under the current circumstances.
‘That’s when I rang mam to say we were waiting for an ambulance and could she come and look after Oliver. Then the pains got worse and I was lying down on the bed when my waters broke.
‘That’s when Isabelle started to appear and Daniel could see her head and my mam shouted that I needed to really push.
‘I never dreamed I would be walking out to the ambulance carrying a baby.’
Emma says the experience was completely different to when she had Oliver, as she had been induced.
‘I had no pregnancy symptoms, I didn’t have any morning sickness, cravings, hadn’t gone off anything and I was still in my normal clothes, which were a little bit tight, but I thought that was through the lockdown and have been eating a bit more.’
Their three-year-old Oliver is set to take on the role of big brother, with Emma and Isabelle home following days of extra monitoring at Sunderland Royal Hospital.
Emma had shown no signs of pregnancy, with doctors suggesting the position of the placenta may have hidden feelings of Isabelle’s movement.
‘It’s totally surreal, but the most amazing surprise,’ says Emma.
‘I can’t put into words how it feels. It’s just so lovely that she’s ours and we literally didn’t have anything, not even a baby grow.
‘Oliver is going to be a fantastic big brother and he loves babies, so he’s just going to be besotted with her.
‘Everyone has just been so amazing and supportive, rallying around. Obviously now I’m on maternity and Dan is on paternity leave and it’s been a massive shock to everybody, the ambulance staff, the hospital, family and friends, but they have all been so supportive.
‘Daniel is over the moon. I think the sheer experience of it all took away the panic. He’s such a hands-on dad and so good with Oliver. My mam was just so good as well, she just talked me through it.’
Daniel, who is an engineer at Caterpillar in Peterlee, said they are still trying to get their heads around what happened.
‘We didn’t have any inkling at all, Emma came in from work, had a shower,
something to eat and popped a couple of paracetamol,’ he says.
‘Then she sent me a text from upstairs at 11.30pm saying she needed me and she was writhing on the bed in agony, so we called 111 and they put her on a wait for an ambulance.
‘Then I had to phone the ambulance back and say I think it’s labour, just because the pains seemed like contractions.’
Daniel says he then had to phone his parents and tell them his wife was having a baby.
‘I just can’t sing Emma’s praises enough, she did an intensive job all day, took two painkillers and then gave birth.
‘We couldn’t wait to get them both home.’
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