Bakery worker delivers baby on own at home

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A 30-year-old mother believes it was through God that she was able to safely deliver her baby on her own on the floor of her San Fernando home on Monday.

Recounting her experience, Shanice Williams said she prayed and did not panic because she knew had to do everything possible to ensure her baby was safe and secondly she did not want to scare her six-year-old son.

Williams, a bakery worker, was breastfeeding her baby Zoe Gonzalez in the yard while her son was sitting next to her when Guardian Media visited her home yesterday.

Both mother and baby were discharged from the San Fernando General Hospital on Wednesday with a clean bill of health.

Baby Zoe was born at 7.45 am and weighed seven pounds six ounces.

Williams explained that her pregnancy was a surprise because she was on birth control.

But, one morning she woke up and saw blood on the bed. She went to the hospital and found out that she was two months pregnant.

“The journey throughout my pregnancy was not difficult but it was not easy,” she added.

While she had no complications, she said due to her job she was on her feet all day and she would be tired a lot.

“Fast forward to Monday I woke up initially to go to clinic around 5.30 am. I used the wash room and after coming out of the wash room I started to get contractions that was basically 30 seconds to a minute apart,” she said.

She knew that the baby was coming soon and had to make a decision.

Williams said her husband did not live with her and she woke him up when she called so she knew it would take him a while to get to her.

She said,”I couldn’t make it to the hospital I couldn’t make it to clinic either so I decided to make her at home.”

Meanwhile, her 25-year-old brother was in another bedroom in an online meeting but she did not want to disturb him.

Instead, she laid down next to her son on the bed and was doing breathing techniques.

“I did not want to make too much noise because I did not want to wake him (son). But then it was a bit painful so I got up and walked to the door. I stooped down, I pushed and the head came out. My husband called me and he was like what is going on? I say, ‘well I am holding her head in my hands currently. He was like, ‘what?’ I was like yep. He say, ‘okay I’m coming.’ Next contraction I pushed her whole body come out and that was it,” she said.

She said her son got up just before the baby’s head came out. “He was fine because I tried to keep myself calm. If I was screaming or crying probably he would have been panicked.”

Williams said at the time she did not think to call the ambulance.

“I cleared her (baby) air passage to ensure that there was nothing in her throat. She cried for about five seconds then I proceeded to breastfeed her. My husband came right after she was born. He called the hospital but he was on hold with them. I was also on the phone with them and the guy on the phone was walking me through the procedure and while we were on the phone the ambulance came,” she said.

She said this was about 15 minutes after she gave birth. The medical technicians cut the umbilical cord and took her to the hospital.

Williams explained that she was passed her due date which was on January 29.

Last Monday, she attended clinic and she was told that everything was good with her and the baby. But, the following day she returned to the hospital because she was getting pain in her leg.

She said, “They examined me and told me I was good. My water bag did not burst and the baby was not in any distress. They told me only when the baby bag burst to come to the hospital.”

Williams admitted that she was paranoid during her pregnancy and did not want to have her baby in the hospital because of the situation with COVID-19.

“I started praying the minute I found out I was pregnant with her to the moment that she came out. I prayed. The first thing I said when I had her was thank you Jesus because I counted everything, eyes, nose , ears, mouth, toes fingers, to make sure everything was up to par and I started to pray again,” she said.

Williams, however, was pleased with the care she got at the hospital.

“They did their jobs and they treated me really nicely. They were really shocked that I did this. They were like who helped you?”

Acknowledging that every pregnancy is different, she had this advice for pregnant women—“When you do go into labour try and not panic. Try and not put any strain on yourself. Try and stay calm and keep a clear mind and remember your breathing techniques because if you don’t you are going to be in a lot of problems.”