484 babies delivered with the help of ambulance call-takers

THEY are the ones we call in life and death emergencies. This year alone, ambulance emergency call-takers, including Sharon Blair, have helped deliver 484 babies over the phone. LISTEN TO THE DRAMATIC CALL.

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AMBULANCE call-taker Sharon Blair was just eight weeks into the job when she got a literal baptism of fire as baby Ivy decided to enter the world in a rush.

At the other end of the line was Cherry Olorenshaw and her family after the 36-year-old realised she was “never going to make it” to hospital as her contractions came on fast, taking her by surprise.

Ivy is one of 484 babies NSW Ambulance call takers and paramedics have helped deliver this year — already nearly 200 more than last year.

Desperate to relieve her pain, the 39-weeks-pregnant mum jumped into the bathtub at her home on the northern beaches while her family phoned triple 0.

Cherry Olorenshaw with newborn Ivy meet NSW Ambulance trainee call taker Sharon Blair, who helped Ms Olorenshaw’s partner Vaughan Sperring, mother and sister over the phone deliver Ivy on the bathroom floor. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

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Over the next 10 minutes, Ms Blair calmly talked Ms Olorenshaw’s partner, mum and sister through the labour, before Ivy was born on the bathroom floor.

“You hear those stories and you think: ‘How could they not make it or how does this happen’,” Ms Olorenshaw told The Sunday Telegraph.

“By the time it came on strongly, I was in too much pain to go anywhere.”

The ambo baby boom includes a baby born in a car in April and another newborn delivered in the hallway of a home in July.

Ms Blair had a triple dose of triple-0 births last month when she talked three women through their labours including Ivy’s “fast” arrival on October 19.

Ms Olorenshaw after having given birth to Ivy on the family’s bathroom floor. Picture: Vaughan Sperring

Ms Sperring with baby Ivy. Picture: Supplied

“I had my mentor there with me to guide me and they listen in to all the calls so that’s a huge relief,” Ms Blair, a trainee call-taker at the Sydney Control Centre, said.

“Afterwards it’s the best feeling — you feel so elated.”

Ivy’s dad Vaughan Sperring said the birth of his and Ms Olorenshaw’s first child, one-year-old son Hunter, helped prepare him for the unexpected and “surreal” delivery of his daughter.

“I think if it was the first, it would have been panic stations a lot more,” the 38-year-old said.

“I was only worried should the umbilical cord be wrapped around and the ambos weren’t there yet at those crucial few early moments but when she popped out we were like: ‘No, she’s fine’ and she gave the first little cry.”

The couple with baby Ivy and older son Hunter at their Allambie Heights home, where Ivy was born. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

After “a lot of screaming”, Ms Olorenshaw said she felt “happy relief” immediately after her daughter was born at 9.10pm.

“I remember stepping out of the bath and I was standing upright and the head came out, so that’s how quickly she came,” she said.

“I was in so much shock afterwards.”

NSW Ambulance commissioner Dominic Morgan said delivering a baby is one of the most rewarding parts of the job for both paramedics and call-takers.

“We often care for people on the very worst days of their lives,” he said.

“To contribute to the best day of their life and be part of that moment is an absolute privilege.”