“I think I’m still in shock.”
An Irish woman has spoken out about how she gave birth in the back of a taxi while on holidays in Lanzarote.
Speaking on the 2fm radio show, Susan told Jennifer Zamparelli that she’d been out for a meal with her husband and child on the last night of their trip when she suddenly started feeling a little off.
Susan was 28 weeks pregnant at the time.
A bit later, while waiting outside a shop, her waters broke, and the family went to the hotel to grab their belongings and ask reception to call an ambulance.
However, they were told an ambulance wouldn’t arrive for at least an hour – so a taxi driver insisted he would bring them to the hospital instead.
While on the way, Susan started getting cramps and pains in her stomach and had to remove her jumpsuit. Before she knew it, her baby – who she has since named Daire – was born.
Susan jokingly described the experience of giving birth in the back of a taxi as “lovely”.
“I was trying to keep him in, I was going ‘I can’t have a baby in a taxi’, and then he just came out,” she told Jennifer.
“His dad caught him. You do what any other mammy would do, you just grab him and he was breathing and that was all we really cared about.
“We had a little cry. What else do you do?”
The family finally arrived at the hospital but they wouldn’t take them in, so they had no choice but to continue driving to another hospital near the airport.
“I said ‘Go as fast as you can!’ – the three of us were clinging to each other.”
Susan explained how there is no ICU facilities in Lanzarote, so little Daire was airlifted to Gran Canaria.
They were then brought by air ambulance to The Coombe in Dublin after a couple of days.
Susan said that Daire is still in The Coombe now but she hopes he’ll be home in time for Christmas.
“He’ll be there for another while but he’s in Ireland and he’s well, that’s the important thing.
“I’d love to say he’ll be home by Christmas but if he’s not home by Christmas that’s okay too, there’s nothing as bad as him being in Gran Canaria.
“I think I’m still in shock. I’m just so relieved.”
