It's a girl! Joy as mum gives birth in car
A mum has told of the dramatic moment she ended up giving birth in the back of a car.
Hayley Grubert delivered her baby with one hand - while holding on to the car door with the other as her husband Mark navigated a winding country road.
The situation was made extra complicated as it was a breech birth, meaning the baby's bottom came out first. But the 40-year-old showed plenty of cool and said she used breathing techniques picked up in a yoga class to calm herself down.
The ordeal came after she had originally planned to have the baby at the Grange Maternity Centre in Petersfield.
Three weeks before her due date, she was told the centre - as well as Blake in Gosport - was temporarily closing to births because of a baby boom meant more midwives were needed in Portsmouth. Mrs Grubert chose not to go to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, but opted instead for Winchester's Royal Hampshire County Hospital, 18 miles away, causing the drama when Mrs Grubert's waters suddenly broke on the B2150.
Mrs Grubert, of Lowland Road, Denmead, said: 'My daughter was born in the car 10 minutes away from Winchester.
'It was fortunate because when I realised what was happening, the things I learnt in my yoga classes such as how to control my breathing focused my mind and stopped me from panicking.
'But if this had been my first child it would have been a lot more traumatic for me. I did go into shock afterwards, which is probably to be expected after what I had just been through.'
Baby Eliza was born a healthy 7lbs 8oz.
A public meeting discussing the future of the Grange will take place at the United Reformed Church in College Street, Petersfield, on November 19 at 7.30pm.
It will be chaired by East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds and representatives from the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust will be there to answer questions from the public.
Antenatal clinics, post-natal clinics, parent education and breast feeding support are still continuing at the Grange.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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