Preparing for birth is a
magical time, from decorating the nursery, to preparing the overnight bag.
There is one thing however that cannot always be controlled; exactly when the
big day is going to arrive.
Norland student, Lauren
Sherrin of Set 39 shares her remarkable account of how her invaluable
experience at Norland College prepared her to facilitate one of life’s greatest
moments.
“It was the day before
my friend Chantelle’s due date and I received a
surprise phone call at 6:30am. Chantelle called to inform me that her labour
had started and asked if I would be her birthing partner. I made my way over to
pick her up and to take her to the hospital. However, things happened far more
quickly than we had anticipated - Chantelle’s waters broke at 7:30am, she was 39 weeks and six days pregnant and was at
home with her five other sons. Chantelle’s mother, who was also there, acted
quickly and called the hospital to let them know that we were on our way, but
little did we know that the baby wasn’t going to wait!”
“Once Chantelle was
settled, I sat serenely by her side and prayed hard that the baby would be born
healthy and strong. For minutes I vacillated between excitement and anxiety
that the baby was going to arrive any minute. Together, myself and Chantelle’s
mother acknowledged the bizarreness of the situation and accepted the absence
of the luxuries we would have had at the well-planned hospital birth.”
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| Norland College student Lauren Sherrin with newborn Harry |
“As soon as we realised
that baby was on its way, and that we weren’t going to get to the hospital in
time, I swiftly called 999 for some advice and, with the paramedics still on
the phone, moments later I delivered baby Harry. He arrived at 7:42am weighing
7 pounds and 15 ounces, a beautiful baby boy. There was no time to hug Harry
because, as we checked him all over and swaddled him in blankets to our concern
he was not crying or breathing. Initially I was worried that something was very
wrong, but the paramedic instructed me to rub the baby and blow all over him.
After an agonising couple of minutes and to my huge relief, baby Harry cried
and I passed him to his mummy.”
“The ambulance arrived
at 9am and the paramedics joined us with their equipment to have a check over
baby Harry and Chantelle. To our relief Harry was a happy and healthy baby and
Chantelle was doing well, which is all we could have wished for. Before we were
taken to the hospital I was asked to cut the cord so that Chantelle and Harry could be taken safely to the
ambulance – it was a great honour.”
“I stayed with Chantelle
and Harry at the hospital for a further twelve hours where the staff ensured
that there were no further complications before being discharged. When telling
people in the hospital about the delivery, they expressed how brave I had been,
but all I felt was the joy of having been part of such an amazing
experience.”
“Although Norland
College does not include midwifery as part of our training, it has given me the
confidence to handle crucial, real-life situations such as this. Helping with
Harry’s birth has provided me with an amazing experience and an insight to what
Midwifery entails.”
At Norland College
children are at the heart of everything we do. The BA (Hons) Early Years
Development and Learning degree and the Norland Diploma offer graduates a
wealth of employment opportunities in order to establish a lifelong career
working with children.
Lauren Sherrin began
training at Norland in September 2015. Visit our website for information
on how you can apply to Norland College.
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