Paramedics save baby born with cord around his neck at home

When Danielle Hurley went into labour at home, there was no time to make it the hospital. Two paramedics helped deliver her son, but the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. Now three months on, Matty reunited with the women who saved him after 17 minutes of resuscitation.

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It was Danielle Hurley’s fourth pregnancy so she ignored the minor contractions coming and going over three days, passing them off as normal dummy runs, but when she woke in the early hours of October 12 last year, she knew real labour was on — and five weeks early.

“I woke my partner up and said we have to get to the hospital and we have to take the kids,” the 30-year-old said.

While Matthew Gavin was putting the other children in the car, Ms Hurley fell to her knees in the lounge room. The hospital was an hour away from their Warnervale home on the Central Coast and the baby was not waiting.

“My partner came back in and said you’re not going to make it are you? If we drove we’d have the baby on the side of the road so we called the paramedics,” Ms Hurley said.

Danielle Hurley is reunited with paramedics Renee Oldfield (left) and Vivian Merz, who delivered Matty at home and saved his life. Picture: Tim Hunter

When paramedics Renee Oldfield and Vivian Merz arrived, the baby’s head was out with the cord wrapped tightly around the neck.

“We responded to an imminent birth and as we walked in the baby was presenting with the cord around the neck, we safety delivered him but he was blue and floppy,” Ms Oldfield, 25, said.

“He was trying to breath but it was really inadequate so we knew we were in trouble and he didn’t respond to rubbing, or a puff of air, which most babies will respond to.

“We cut the cord and put a bag mask on him to breath for him for 30 seconds, but he still didn’t’ respond so we connected him to oxygen.”

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The paramedics kept so calm, Ms Hurley had no idea of the drama unfolding.

“He didn’t cry but they kept letting me know he was fine and I didn’t think anything was wrong, they were all so calm,” she said.

Mr Gavin on the other hand was pacing frantically.

“I thought he was gone, he popped his head out and the cord was around his neck and it was pretty full on as they tried to bring him back to life,” Mr Gavin, 40, said.

Matty was not breathing when he was born but was saved after 17 minutes of resuscitation.

Paramedic Renee Oldfield holds Matty after she helped mum Danielle Hurley deliver him. Picture: Tim Hunter

Ms Oldfield said: “Dad was pacing and we had to keep giving him jobs to keep him busy, you know, look out for the backup coming. It was all very stressful.”

It took 17 minutes of resuscitation for baby Matty to start breathing on his own.

Ms Merz, 31, had only been on the job as a paramedic for six weeks and it was her first birth.

“It was pretty terrifying, but also very rewarding with a great outcome,” Ms Merz said.

Now, three months on, Matty is healthy and happy despite his dramatic entry into the world.

Baby Matty with his mum and dad Danielle and husband Matthew, their three other children Ace, 10, Alivia, 5, Kandace, 3; and paramedics Renee Oldfield (left) and Vivian Merz. Picture: Tim Hunter

The paramedics reunited with mum and bub to celebrate a good outcome.

“I was a bit shaken when I went home after that shift but now I’m very happy about the job,” Ms Oldfield said. She had been a trainee for three years and this job was also her first birth as a fully qualified paramedic.

“A birth is very exciting, we often get a lot of sadness and grief, but in this case, here I am newly qualified and they baby isn’t breathing. But thankfully it’s been a good outcome,” Ms Oldfield said.

“I was blasé to the situation but now I know what happened I think thank god, I have so much respect for the job they do,” Ms Oldfield said.

“We did everything we could and it worked out well and it was awesome to see how healthy and happy his is now,” Ms Merz said.

“I could not have done that myself, they definitely saved his life,” Mr Gavin said.

Originally published as Paramedics save baby born with cord around his neck at home