A Dartmouth dad had to deliver his son by the side of the road after the baby refused to wait for the long drive to Wodonga hospital.
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Alannah Dower, 31, went to bed on Thursday, July 12 with a few mild contractions.
She woke her husband, Jono, at 12.35am telling him her waters had broken and they’d better get going.
By the time Alannah’s mum arrived to look after their son Olly, the contractions were hitting hard.
As the anxious pair headed off in heavy fog for the 93-kilometre drive to Wodonga, all Alannah could think was, “I hope I make it”.
She knew she was in trouble when she felt the first push contraction less than 10 kilometres down the road.
Alannah rang the midwives at Wodonga who told the frantic parents they would need an ambulance and to call triple zero.
“Alannah was in heavy labour; she was doing a bit of screaming,” Jono recalled.
“The operator told me to pull over and prepare to deliver the baby – I nearly threw the phone out the window.”
With only limited mobile reception, Jono drove a little further to Stockyard Creek on the Omeo Highway.
They’d dodged three wombats between Dartmouth and the Mitta Mitta intersection.
When they pulled up, Jono tried to manoeuvre a labouring Alannah into the back seat of the four-wheel drive but Olly’s child seat was in the way.
“We wound back the passenger front seat and put Alannah’s legs on the dash – and I accidentally jammed her fingers in the door,” Jono said ruefully.
“We left the car running with the heater on and we had some towels and blankets on hand. So I guess you could say we were half-prepared.”
With the calm voice of the ESTA triple-zero operator (and a midwife on a second phone) guiding the couple from the dashboard, Jono gently brought his son into the world.
“The operator was absolutely fantastic,” Jono said.
“I had to hold pressure on Alannah to stop her from tearing as the baby’s head crowned and them help him out slowly.
“That’s when she nearly lost me.”
Alannah explained: “He’s got a weak stomach”.
Reginald Colin Dower was born at 1.17am on Friday, July 13 – nine minutes after they pulled up on the roadside.
Mitta Mitta ambulance community officers arrrived 17 minutes after the birth followed by Tallangatta ambulance crews, who transported mum and bub to Wodonga’s maternity ward. He weighed in at a very healthy 3.7 kilograms.
Jono admits he was “pretty emotional” as he followed behind the ambulance, reflecting on the enormity of what had just happened – and what could have gone wrong.
“All the time we had playing in the back of our minds the fact Olly was an emergency forceps delivery,” he said.
“He got stuck coming out and there we were on the side of the road with no help immediately available.”
On reflection the proud parents agree they were possibly calmer this time ‘round than they were with Olly’s birth.
They attribute a lot of that to the wonderful reassurance of the triple zero operator and encouragement of the midwife.
“We had to rely on ourselves,” Jono said.
“Once the baby’s head popped out the lady asked Alannah to give one more push and we put him on her chest and I was told how to wipe the mucous away.”
Alannah said after the adrenaline subsided and they waited in the car with their beautiful little boy in the quiet country night, it was quite a peaceful feeling.
The parents said the ambulance crews were fantastic and issued a grateful thanks for all their care and assistance when they arrived on scene.
Of his wife’s brave efforts, Jono said, “You couldn’t ask for a stronger woman”.
As for Alannah, well she looks at her husband in a completely different way now.
“He’s pretty bloody good as a midwife,” she said.
“But we’re not having another baby so he won’t be delivering another one.”
As fate would have it, Reginald’s delivery date shows perhaps he was indeed born under a lucky star.
He has been named for Jono’s grandfather who would have celebrated his 85th birthday that same day.
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