Community heroes help mom deliver baby on Tshwane lawn
Community responders and a security company received phone assistance from a doctor working in a maternity ward to help a mother, stranded and in labour, deliver a healthy baby boy.
A team of volunteer community responders from the Old East Safety Forum came together to help a mother who had been left stranded to deliver her baby boy on the street in Lynnwood Glen, Pretoria, on Friday.
Ward 56 councillor Jarad Frimmel, who was part of the response team, said at around 22:42 he and his patrol partner received an urgent message on a community group about a woman who had unexpectedly gone into labour.
He says they arrived at the scene to find the mother, in her 30s, lying on a lawn along Kafue Street.
“After introducing myself and offering to help, she explained she was visiting Times Square from Johannesburg, where she lives, when she started to go into labour.”
The woman told Frimmel she found herself stranded and in distress after being asked to leave a taxi due to her condition.
“She was lost and stranded as she didn’t know where to go.”
He says, fortunately, security officers from CSI Security and Interactive Security spotted her and promptly called for assistance.
“When we arrived on the scene, we checked on how the mother was doing by asking a few questions about the pregnancy and taking vitals.”
They ensured she was stable before dispatching an ambulance via the Gauteng e-Panic app.
Image: Supplied
To provide immediate support, Frimmel contacted a volunteer community responder and doctor working in a maternity ward, who offered guidance over the phone.
“With the mother’s co-operation and the advice from the doctor, we assisted her in delivering a healthy baby boy.”
Frimmel shared the joy of the moment and stated that they wrapped the baby boy up tightly to ensure he was warm, cleaned him, and then handed him to the mother.
He says the woman and her newborn son didn’t experience any complications during labour.
“The mother informed us that this was her second child,” he adds.
Once the baby was safely delivered and cared for, Emergency Medical Solutions transported the mother and child to a nearby hospital for further care and support.
Frimmel expressed his relief and happiness at the outcome.
“We are happy to have helped and ensured that she and the child were looked after until she could be taken to the hospital,” he says.
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