Baby Sophie goes home after five months in hospital

9:30am Tuesday 27th July 2010

By Andrew Ffrench

SOPHIE Thomlinson was not the first baby paramedic Rob Dalziel has delivered, but she was definitely the smallest.

Now a healthy 9lb 11oz, Sophie weighed only 1lb 15oz when she was born prematurely in an ambulance at 26 weeks, en route to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, in Reading.

Mum Emily Thomlinson, 29, from Wheatley, telephoned Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital when she experienced stomach pains on January 31 as the winter snow fell.

But the maternity unit was full and she and her fiance Peter Hazzard were advised to call an ambulance to take her to the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

After Miss Thomlinson’s waters broke, the ambulance pulled up outside Reading Footballl Club’s Madejski Stadium where Mr Dalziel delivered the baby at about 7.25am on February 1, with the help of care assistant Chris Carey.

Miss Thomlinson, who works for a Witney travel firm, said: “After Sophie was born she gave a little cry, but it was another 10 minutes before we reached the hospital.

“I was really worried and I did not know if Sophie would still be alive when we reached the hospital.”

Mr Dalziel, 37, from Didcot, who was reunited with Sophie in a visit to the couple’s home in London Road at the weekend, said: “It is not ideal for any baby to be born in an ambulance, and Sophie was so small.

“We put Sophie in a clinical waste bag to keep her moist and used blankets to keep her warm. Then we had to force air into her lungs to help her to breathe.

“Sophie is the 11th baby I have delivered but she is by far the smallest, and the quickest to be born. It is great to come and visit and see Sophie doing so well now. It really makes my job worthwhile.”

Mr Hazzard said: “Rob was absolutely brilliant and I was so impressed by how calm he was.

“I had hoped that Sophie wasn’t going to be born in the ambulance, but when Emily’s waters broke I realised it was going to happen there and then.”

Following treatment at the Royal Berkshire, Sophie was moved to the JR’s neonatal unit. Mr Hazzard, 27, a teacher, said: “Staff at the unit were absolutely brilliant and we really appreciate everything they did for us. We were there for about five months.”

Miss Thomlinson added: “We were allowed to bring her home about three weeks ago and she is settling in really well, although she does have some scar tissue on her lungs from when she was ventilated.

“We had a glass of Champagne to celebrate and the last few weeks have been brilliant.”

The ambulance drove from Wheatley to Reading via the M40, A404 and M4, instead of via the A4074, because of the snow.

Neonatal intensive care has 10 cots and it is where the sickest babies are treated.

Babies are considered on the threshold in terms of their survival chances after 22 weeks. Normal term is 40 weeks.

To donate money to the neonatal unit call Support for the Sick Newborn And their Parents on 01865 221359