Dad delivers child lady after midwife flees room in panic throughout high-risk labour

Cleo Gray was born on February 21 and delivered by her dad Matt, a former ambulance technician, was left to deliver his little one after the midwife left the room during the high-risk labour

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A dad delivered his baby after a midwife left the room in a panic during a high-risk labour.

Cleo Gray was born on February 21, at the John Radcliffe Hospital Women’s Centre in Oxford. The baby girl was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.

Her dad Matt, a former ambulance technician, was left to deliver his little one after the midwife left the room. He managed to unwrap the cord from around his daughter’s neck. The Oxford University Hospitals Trust (OUH), which runs the hospital, apologised to the family.

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Matt’s wife Jo was cradling their little one when staff returned. She told the Banbury Guardian: “It is terrifying. It could have gone so wrong.”

Cleo is the couple’s fourth child and the labour was expected to progress quickly. The labour was deemed high-risk as Jo has several medical conditions.

Jo went to the hospital after going into labour two weeks early. She said her first midwife was “lovely”, but was replaced after the initial midwife was needed elsewhere.

“It went downhill from there; it was really bad,” Jo said.

She said the new midwife seemed less experienced and was not communicative or reassuring.

Jo said went into delivery shortly after. The baby’s heart rate kept changing after every contraction, which is considered normal.

“She [the midwife] started panicking, which in turn, made me panic,” Jo added.

Jo said the midwife told her that the baby’s heart rate was dropping and it was getting dangerous. Jo added that she was going into a panic attack because she had a traumatic birth prior and nearly lost her son.

“Before we knew it, she’d left the room. We were left on our own.”

Matt went to fetch the midwife, who left again shortly after. The couple claim she was gone for 10 to 15 minutes.

The couple said they could not reach the call button behind Jo’s bed to get help.

“After she ran out a second time, I realised we were going to have to deliver the baby ourselves. I put some gloves on and minutes later, baby’s was born,” Matt said.

“Once she was out, I saw the cord was actually around her neck. I managed to unwrap it but wasn’t able to get rid of the mucus.”

“I cleaned her and dried her and gave her to Jo. They came in about two minutes afterwards and told me it was good that I’d put on gloves!” Matt said.

Jo said the staff did not apologise at the time. It is understood that the couple was told the incident “was very unfortunate but everything was OK.”

A formal complaint with OUH and the Care Quality Commission.

A spokesman for OUH said a full investigation will be conducted.

“We are unable to provide further detail while that investigation is underway but are committed to openness and transparency when sharing our full findings with Jordan and Matthew once the process has been completed,” the spokesperson said.

The OUH maternity unit is one of the 12 being investigated in the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.

An interim report found deep-rooted issues in NHS maternity care.