A baby boy has been born in a coastguard helicopter over the English Channel. Jennifer Trevithick, herself a coastguard rescue officer, went into labour on December 4, and was flown from the Isles of Scilly to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.
She started having contractions around 9pm and went to the island's birth centre with partner Hayden. However, the midwife discovered a complication when the patient's waters broke, escalating the events to an emergency and triggering help from the coastguard.
The rescue helicopter from Newquay was scrambled and, despite only being a 25-minute journey, Ms Trevithick already knew that the baby would be born during the flight. Around half way through the journey the baby began to show and while hovering 15 feet over the helipad at the hospital, Ms Trevithick gave birth to her baby boy Ebbyn, just after 2am.
He is the third Scillonian to be born on a coastguard helicopter. Describing the events as part of “one crazy evening” Ms Trevithick, who also works at a brewery on St Mary's, said: "All I could think was this baby’s coming, and there is no way of stopping it. I was in such a birthing bubble, I knew what was happening but I couldn’t talk or anything. All I knew was I didn’t have any worries.
"There wasn’t a single moment I felt scared, my body did what it needed to in the safest environment. Once I was on board the medic and midwife were there, and they were just so lovely. I had such great people and support with me."
She added: “It was such a surreal experience, but quite fun in a way. At the end I was holding Ebbyn in my arms but I wasn’t sure where we were or what was happening.”
Also travelling to hospital by helicopter during her first pregnancy, Ms Trevithick said: "At the time I didn’t realise how crazy or rare this was. Being flown to hospital for childbirth isn’t unheard of here, so we assumed there must be complications and births in the air all the time.”
Following the events, she said that Ebbyn was healthy and growing fast, and she was looking forward to returning to the coastguard next year. She said: “The whole time I felt so safe – when you hear that helicopter sound you know someone is being taken to that next level of care, it’s a positive sound. If it wasn’t for the coastguard we wouldn’t have this lovely story to tell, we’re so grateful to them and the staff involved."
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