How a police officer helped deliver baby on major highway
A police officer who had been supervising road works on a major highway has come to the aid of an woman in labour and helped to deliver her baby on the side road.
Senior Constable Christine Fox first spotted a car pulled off to the side of the Bruce Highway at Tanawha on the Sunshine Coast in the early hours of November 5 and went to investigate.
She noticed a man who seemed visibly distressed when she approached the car, and before long the police officer realised she would need to help with the birth of a girl who was set on making a hurried entrance into to the world.
“At first I was worried someone had been badly hurt, then I saw Aimee standing next to the car in labour and the baby was already crowning,” Senior Constable Fox said.
“I grabbed a towel from the car and let the Triple-0 operator guide us through the delivery.”
Aimee Rodgers’ husband Luke, caught their newborn, now named Ayla, and the baby was quickly wrapped up. The police officer helped to monitor the baby until paramedics arrived.
“We were so thankful to have her there, she and the paramedics did such an amazing job,” Luke said.
On Monday, Ayla and her parents were reunited with Senior Constable Fox and paramedics, Jen Clifford and Laura Henschell, who helped with the unexpected emergency.
Ms Rodgers told media that she had urges to push and called the hospital but had been told to stay home a bit longer.
However she started to make her way to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital anyway, and on their way she told her husband to pull over.
“I thought I had quite a bit of time still to go … but she had other plans and yeah just came,” Ms Rodgers said.
Her husband said five minutes after they pulled over Ayla was in his arms.
And fortunately the one-week-old is “pretty cruisey”, eating and sleeping well for her parents.
