News / Baby born in Scalloway layby
A FATHER who helped deliver his third child in a layby in Shetland after his wife’s waters broke when their car hit a pothole says he feels hugely privileged.
Debbie and Alistair Morgan, both 29, were on their way to the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick in the early hours of Wednesday, when they were forced to cut their journey short.
Alistair said Debbie’s waters broke as they travelled down the bumpy road from their croft at Burwick, outside Scalloway.
Baby Ryley, weighing 9.5 lbs, was born at 3.15am in a layby overlooking the village.
Having been present during the birth of his two other boys, Alistair said he had a good idea what to expect when his wife said she couldn’t hold on for any longer.
“It wasn’t the case that I was panicking; you really don’t have the time to do that. It needed done, there were no two ways about it,” he recalled of the moment when he realised his wife was about to deliver their third baby.
He said there was hardly time to get out of the car and push back the seat to make it a little more comfortable for his wife.
“By the time I had done that the baby’s head was crowning and it was just another couple of pushes from Deb and he eased out,” Alistair said.
“I got him, lifted him up to mum, got a few blankets out and got the heating up.”
Within a matter of minutes the couple and their newborn baby boy were able to continue their journey.
Alistair said his wife called the hospital “once there was a mobile phone signal again”, and on their arrival they were greeted by a team from the maternity and A&E departments.
He said: “I feel privileged to have been a little bit more involved in it than normally would get a chance to be.
“I was confident in Deb’s ability of knowing her own body – in fact she was letting me know where she was at during the birth – and we both did it as a team.
“I never knew how much I really wanted to deliver my own bairns until I actually done it.”
They left hospital in the afternoon of the same day, and mother and baby are both doing well.
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