Tiny Queensland twins Harvey and Evelyn have made a dramatic entrance to the world – after they both were born in the back of an ambulance on the way to Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane.
Mum Tara Bishop said the delivery of her breech-born premmie babies, who arrived just six minutes apart, was an “unforgettable” experience.
Partner Hayden Davies, 30, said the drama unfolded in the early hours of October 31, when Tara’s waters broke at home and she began to experience intense pain.
An ambulance collected Tara at the couple’s Sunnybank home, but her babies were in hurry.
Evelyn was born in the ambulance at the Tarragindi exit on the Pacific Motorway and minutes later brother Harvey arrived.
“I thought the ambulance stopped on the highway because Tara, who has a history of epilepsy, was having a seizure. But that wasn’t the case,” Mr Davies said.
“I was following the ambulance in my car and noticed they had pulled over, so I ran to find out what happened.
“When I got there the paramedic said Evelyn had arrived and we needed to get to the Mater straight away.”
Ms Bishop said she never expected to give birth to both her babies in an ambulance.
“It was a pretty dramatic arrival, obviously both of them couldn’t wait to meet us,” she said.
“Evelyn arrived at 3.31am and Harvey at 3.37am. Everything happened so fast.”
More than 2000 seriously ill and premature babies are cared for at Mater Mothers’ Hospitals’ Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU) at South Brisbane.
Arriving two months ahead of schedule at 32 weeks gestation, little Harvey and Evelyn have spent the last two weeks receiving specialist care in the NCCU.
Sharing their story ahead of World Prematurity Day (17 November), Mr Davies and Ms Bishop acknowledged the around-the-clock care Mater’s medical team have continued to provide Evelyn, who weighed 1770 grams at birth, and Harvey just 1734 grams.
The couple said they were grateful to the paramedics who assisted with the delivery of their twins, ensuring they were transported to hospital quickly.
“Tara’s waters broke around 2.15am. I had planned to drive to her to the hospital however her pain had intensified, and I called for an ambulance – I am so glad I did,” Mr Davies said.
“We were actually preparing to deliver the twins via a caesarean section but that didn’t happen.
Despite Harvey having some initial breathing problems, Mr Davies said the twins were “happy and healthy”, gaining weight and enjoying lots of cuddles together.
