Mother-of-six, 33, goes into labour prematurely on the beach after taking her children out for a fun family trip
- Kirsty Nott, from Aberdare, Wales, took children to the beach on UK’s hottest day
- Strangers helped the now mother-of-six as she went into labour on 19 July
- She put down her towel when her waters suddenly broke on Aberavon Beach
A mother-of-six went into labour prematurely at the beach on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK after expecting to enjoy a fun family trip out with her children.
On 19 July, eight-months-pregnant Kirsty Nott, 33, from Aberdare, Wales, took five of her children out for a day at Aberavon Beach in Port Talbot after a school trip to Porthcawl had been cancelled at the last minute due to hot weather warnings.
When they arrived, the beach was packed, so Kirsty told her children, Logan Angell, 14, Braydan Parfitt, 10, Roxy Parfitt, 9, Kruz Parfitt, 8 and Blake Nott, 4, to run into the sea while she set up the towels and beach toys.
Her husband Shane Gregory, 36, was at his work as a telecom engineer that day so she had invited her friend to join her, but was delayed in traffic.
As she set up alone on the beach she bent over to put her towel down when her waters suddenly broke: ‘I hadn’t even put my bum on the sand yet,’ Kirsty said.
Mother-of-six, Kirsty Nott, 33, (pictured with her newborn son Tanner-Jax), from Aberdare, Wales, went into labour prematurely on the beach on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK after expecting to enjoy a fun family trip out with her children
At the time, Kirsty was terrified and in a lot of pain and called her mother and partner Gregory who were both in Aberdare, who called an ambulance on her behalf while strangers on the beach started to gather around to help.
The five children returned from their swim in the sea and watched in shock as their mother had contractions on the sand.
With her sister, step-dad and partner on their way to Port Talbot from Aberdare, Kirsty was faced with the prospect of giving birth on a packed beach with only strangers there to help her.
She said: ‘I was panicking, there were no familiar faces. I thought he was going to come out on the beach.’
Kirsty’s previous children had been delivered quickly so she was concerned that this labour would follow the same pattern, but her biggest worry was haemorrhaging whilst far away from a hospital as she had suffered from postpartum haemorrhages with four out of her six births.
The paramedics called Kirsty directly but she she handed it to a woman who she had just met as she was in too much pain to listen.
Repeating instructions from the paramedics, the woman told Kirsty to lay down and take off all her clothes on her bottom half.
Kirsty was in such shock and discomfort that she had no time to feel embarrassed at stripping off on the beach in front of an audience. ‘At the time, I didn’t care who was seeing what,’ Kirsty explained.
As the crowds around her started to grow, Port Talbot coastguards arrived and cleared the area, putting up windbreakers around Kirsty to give her some much-needed privacy.
Lifeguards from Swansea RNLI also arrived at the scene. Kirsty’s children told her ‘Don’t worry mam, you’re going to be okay,’ as a team of coastguards and lifeguards gave her gas and air and liased with paramedics.
When they arrived, the beach was packed, so Kirsty told her children (pictured surrounding their new sibling, from left), Logan Angell, 14, Braydan Parfitt, 10, Roxy Parfitt, 9, Blake Nott, 4, and Kruz Parfitt, 8, to run into the sea while she set up the towels and beach toys
Kirsty thought the baby was going to be delivered on Aberavon beach – but luckily an ambulance arrived on time to take her straight to Singleton Hospital.
Unfortunately this was not the end of Kirsty and her baby’s troubles as when she arrived at the hospital, her midwife told her that her cervix was not opening and that her labour needed to be induced.
Following the labour induction, baby Tanner-Jax Gregory Nott was born weighing 5lb 11oz and as Kirsty had predicted, she suffered another post-partum haemorrhage.
She was taken care of by medical staff who told the mother-of-six it was lucky that she did not give birth on the beach as it could have been a very different outcome.
Kirsty thought the baby was going to be delivered on Aberavon beach – but luckily an ambulance arrived on time to take her straight to Singleton Hospital. Pictured with Tanner-Jax
Tanner-Jax was jaundiced so had to stay in the hospital for four days, but now the three-week-old little boy is healthy and at home with his mother.
Following the incident, Port Talbot coastguards messaged Kirsty to tell her they had a special coastguard teddy for the newborn and activity packs for Kirsty’s other children. ‘I really did appreciate everything they did, they kept me calm’ said Kirsty.
She thanked the coastguards with some chocolates but admitted that she felt quite embarrassed seeing them again after what they had seen on the beach that day.
Kirsty also said her teenage son Logan is quite traumatised from the very public birth of his new brother but at least her family of nine are safe and sound together in Aberdare.
Source: Read Full Article