A father was forced to deliver his own baby in a maternity ward after the midwife abandoned them.

Thomas Howard, 33, frantically pressed the emergency buzzer to alert staff at the Royal Blackburn Hospital, Lancashire, for help when he realized the newborn's arrival was imminent.

But when no one at the maternity suite arrived to deliver the baby, he had to act.

Father-of-five Mr Howard said by the time the midwife had returned, his partner Emily Baron had already given birth.

Emily, 26, had been taken to hospital after going into labor. After arranging for family members to look after their other children, Thomas arrived half an hour later and noticed Emily was losing blood.

'When I asked the midwife if this was normal she said she didn't know, which didn't fill me with confidence at all,' said Mr Howard.

'She then went away, leaving me and Emily on our own. It was then I noticed the baby's head coming through. I pressed the buzzer to get some assistance, but nobody came and I decided that I would have to step in.

'I have never done anything like it before, but I've seen others do it a few times, so I had a rough idea.

'The baby was lying at the end of the bed between Emily's legs and I was cleaning the mucous out of her mouth and making sure she could breathe when the midwife came back in.

I was in shock at what had happened but the nurse didn't say anything to me. She just carried on as if it was normal.'

Madeline Louise Howard was born at 8.15am last Tuesday weighing 4lb 15oz.

The couple are angry at the poor care they received and were worried because of problems at previous births. Thomas and Emily have four other children - Reece, nine, Dylan, six, Adam, two, and one-year-old Deni.

The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) have also criticized the hospital's treatment as an example of the midwife shortage facing the UK.

An NCT spokesperson said: 'Being left alone in labor in hospital is unacceptable.

Mr Howard, of Blackburn, added: 'I know that these nurses are busy and work very hard, but I feel the department is understaffed.

'My one-year-old daughter was born with a cleft lip, and Adam had breathing difficulties at birth. They both needed assistance at delivery, and if this had happened to them, I dread to think what the outcome would have been.

'It's just a massive relief that this has gone okay and she's doing well.'

Only a fortnight ago the Nursing and Midwifery Council said the midwifery profession is 'still playing catch-up' after a report warned Britain's rising birth rate was leading to a shortage of staff.

Ruth Gildert, divisional general manager in Family Care for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, apologized to the couple for having to deliver their daughter alone.

'We cannot comment in detail for reasons of patient confidentially but our midwives supervise all women very closely during labor.

'However there may, on some occasions, be the need to briefly leave the room and a baby can be born unexpectedly quickly, especially if this is not the mother's first child.

'As a result of the concerns expressed we will be looking very closely into what happened and we will be contacting the family directly to discuss their concerns with them. We understand both mother and baby are doing well.'

Source
PregnancyWeekly.com