I gave birth to premmie twins in the front seat as we got pulled over for speeding

A NSW mum traumatically delivered her own 26-week old twins in the front seat of a car at high speed in a race to save their lives.

Josephine Agostino

4 min read

February 23, 2023 - 2:07PM

Family Life

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When Emma and husband Trent discovered they were having twins, the couple were over the moon.

Their little girls would be much longed-for baby sisters for their then one-year-old son, Paxton.

But at 22 weeks, after the smoothest pregnancy the mum from Upper Bingara, NSW, could have asked for, tragedy struck.

In an ambulance on the way to Inverell Hospital, 90 minutes away from her rural property, Emma gave birth to the twins prematurely back in 2019.

“Lily was born still and Evie was alive for only 30 minutes,” the bereaved mum tells Kidspot.

“There was never any reason as to why they came early. After that, I didn’t know if I would be able to carry a baby full term.”

After welcoming their rainbow daughter, Mackenzie, in 2021, Emma and Trent were blessed to fall pregnant again last year - this time, it was twins once again…

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Declan was intubated before both he and Dominic were flown to a neonatal unit at a Sydney hospital amid raging storms later that day. Source: Supplied to Kidspot

“My OBGYN told me to come back in a fortnight"

On September 20, at 26 weeks along, Emma had a regular check-up with her OBGYN and all was well, which was a huge relief during what was an anxiety-riddled pregnancy.

“I was told to come back in a fortnight because there was no indication anything was happening.”

When she woke up the following day, however, the 35-year-old felt like she was “bruised” in the lower part of her belly.

With Trent already at work, Emma called her parents, who live on the same rural property, and the decision was made to drive to her doctor’s office at Inverell as a precaution.

“We didn’t think anything was happening, but after what happened with the twins, we just wanted to be careful.”

After 45 minutes, about halfway into the trip, Emma tried desperately not to panic.

“The pain changed and I started having contractions… it was progressing very quickly.”

Declan and Dominic - weighing just 960grams and 1.25kg respectively - were given the best fighting chance possible with all hands on deck in the small town. Source: Supplied to Kidspot

"We had a police escort after I gave birth to prem twins in the car"

Emma called ahead to the hospital to be prepared for her and the twins’ arrival.

Her father, meanwhile, purposely drove over the speed limit in the hope of attracting a police car on the way.

Luck was on their side, and after being pulled over by a passing patrol officer going the opposite way, Emma was given a light-siren escort straight to Inverell Hospital.

Less than 20km away from the hospital, however, Emma’s twins could wait no longer.

“My water broke, I had two big contractions and Declan (twin one) just came out,” she remembers of the birth that took place on the front passenger seat of her father’s car.

“I just grabbed him in my hands and put him on my belly because the cord wouldn’t go any further.”

“I was terrified I’d lose them… I was so sure it was going to happen after being born so early like the girls were." Source: Supplied to Kidspot

“My second water broke and with one contraction, he was out as well"

While Emma was using all her instincts to clear her son’s mouth and rub his chest to stimulate his breathing, twin two, a little boy named Dominic, decided to make his speedy arrival just two minutes later.

“My second water broke and with one contraction, he was out as well,” the mum-of-four vividly retells.

“I grabbed him with my free hand and brought him to my belly and wrapped him, and Declan, in a jumper from the backseat and held them together against my bare skin, trying to keep them warm and breathing.”

The entire time, Emma feared her sons would suffer the same fate as her twin girls.

“I was terrified I’d lose them… I was so sure it was going to happen after being born so early like the girls were,” she cries.

“They were making little noises and small cries and breathing but as we got closer to the hospital, Declan was getting a lot quieter. I kept saying to my dad, ‘I can’t do it again. ‘I can’t lose another two’.”

"If they had been further away from town, we don’t know what the result would have been.” Source: Supplied to Kidspot

"For the twins to survive this young and so tiny is rare"

With the route to hospital completely cleared by the town’s police and every available doctor called to work on the twins on their arrival, Declan and Dominic - weighing just 960grams and 1.25kg respectively - were given the best fighting chance possible.

Inverell Hospital Health Service Manager, Kath Randall, assisted with resuscitating one of the boys.

“Both babies were in a critical condition on arrival and had very light heart beats,” she explains.

“It is very rare that this kind of thing happens. To survive this young and so tiny is incredible. If they had been further away from town, we don’t know what the result would have been.”

The miracle twin boys are now five months old. Source: Supplied to Kidspot

"My premmie twins came home 2 days before Xmas"

Declan was intubated before both he and Dominic were flown to a neonatal unit at a Sydney hospital amid raging storms later that day.

The twins remained in hospital in Sydney and Tamworth for 94 days, and gave their family the best Christmas present they could have ever wished for by coming home on December 23, two days before their original due date.