We parked outside of the address. Nothing very challenging here we thought. This was a doctors urgent call. The patient was a 21 year old female still living with her parents. She had been complaining of abdominal pains and a doctor had been called out to see her. The doctor had arranged for her to travel to a hospital in Coventry
An urgent call was when the patient had been seen by a doctor who had deemed it necessary for the patient to attend hospital quickly but not usually as an emergency. In this case the doctor had requested transport within two hours. He had left a letter for the receiving hospital who he had already contacted.
When we arrived at the patients side she was with her mum and although she was suffering intermittent abdominal pain appeared well. Following an initial assessment we allowed the patient to walk downstairs with our assistance. About half way down she became hesitant and said that she was experiencing a further episode of cramping pain. She appeared to almost want to squat something that I had seen before and which aroused my suspicions.
The pain quickly subsided so we continued to assist the patient into the ambulance where we made her comfortable on our stretcher. Mum was was with us and Dad was waiting to follow us in the car. I was now very suspicious and began to question the patient in more depth. I can't remember how I got there but eventually asked the young woman if she could be pregnant. You will appreciate that there was no suggestion that this was the case and the doctor was treating her as a medical/surgical emergency.
She meekly nodded her head. I asked her when and the information she gave confirmed to me that she was full term and was now suffering labour pains. Mums face was a picture, she looked absolutely stunned and was as white as a ghost. Her daughter had successfully concealed her pregnancy from her family and friends for 9 months and had just fooled a doctor into believing that she had an illness.
This of course placed a completely different complexion on the call. We had a young pregnant female who was labouring and who had no ante-natal records and was not booked into a Maternity unit. I immediately called our control on the vehicles radio set asking that they inform the local Maternity unit in Nuneaton that we were bringing to them a patient who they had no record of. While I was in the middle of the conversation my colleague a new Paramedic cried out my name. When I looked round the patient had delivered the head of her baby. We were all taken by surprise.
After assisting with the delivery of the baby I was able to inform the Hospital via our control that we now had two patients who were both doing well and gave an estimated time of arrival. During all of this, the patients father had remained sitting in his car and was oblivious to what had just happened.
I wished I could have taken a picture when I informed him he was a grandfather!
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