Page 18 of The Midwife By the Sea

Either way, they couldn’t wait any longer. As soon as the next contraction eased off, Hope was going to have to examine Freya and try to keep things as discreet as possible. She needed to know whether they were going to be able to move her themselves, or whether the only hope of avoiding her baby being born on the beach was if the ambulance arrived in time, and the paramedics could safely move her instead.

‘Okay, Freya, I really think I need to examine you. The contractions are less than a minute apart now and I need to know what’s going on.’

‘Can you try and call my boyfriend? He’s in my phone under… oh my God!’ Another contraction had already arrived, and this was a strong one. Hope could do nothing but wait until it passed and just as she spread the towel over Freya’s lower half, Annie came hurtling back towards her, sending up a spray of sand.

‘I’ve got a windbreak, I’ll set it up to block the view as best I can.’

‘Thank you. The contractions are less than a minute apart and they’re lasting longer than the break in between, so I need to see what’s going on.’ Hope didn’t hear what her sister said in response, as she carefully lifted the towel, having removed Freya’s bikini bottoms and positioned her body to shield Freya from prying eyes as much as she could. Hope had intended to check how dilated her cervix was, but there was no need because the baby’s head was already crowning.

‘I’ve been trying not to push, but the baby’s coming anyway, isn’t it?’ Freya looked absolutely terrified and Hope was going to need to swallow her own fears and be the calm and collected one, even if she didn’t feel it.

‘Yes, it is, and it’s going to be absolutely fine. You’re doing amazingly, you just need to carry on like you are, and with the next contraction I want you to breathe this baby out, slow and steady, no big pushes.’ What Hope didn’t tell Freya was that if she delivered the baby too quickly, it would risk causing far more damage to the perineum and they were hardly in what anyone would call a sterile environment.

‘Someone’s just given me another windbreak,’ Annie announced, but there was no time for any of that now.

‘The baby’s crowning and I’m going to need your help.’ Hope’s tone was urgent, but as another contraction took hold, she turned back to Freya. ‘Okay, you’ve done so well, now I want you to let your body do the work, just take short slow breaths, like you’re breathing through a straw for me, that’s it.’

‘Aargh!’ The scream Freya suddenly let out sent a flock of seagulls soaring off the sand and into the sky, their own screeches almost enough to drown out her cry, but not quite.

‘That’s it, Freya, I know it’s hard, but you’re doing so brilliantly. The baby’s head is out now.’ Hope felt for the umbilical cord, a shiver going up her spine that had nothing to do with the sun sliding behind the clouds. The baby’s cord was wrapped around its neck and it was too tight for her to just loop it over. If they’d been in the hospital, or even at the midwifery unit, she’d have clamped and cut the cord if they had to, in order to prevent the risk of it tearing away from the placenta, which could be incredibly dangerous. Or wrapping so tightly around the baby’s neck that it could compromise its airway. But they weren’t in a labour unit. That only left one option.

‘The baby’s cord is around its neck and it’s a little bit tight, so I need you to try really hard not to push with the next contraction either, Freya. You need to pant through it instead.’

‘Is it going to be okay?’ Freya’s eyes widened in alarm and she struggled for a moment, as if she might try to stand up, but Hope gently put a hand on her leg. They all needed to stay as calm as possible to get Freya and the baby through this safely.

‘It’s going to be fine, if you just listen to what I say. My sister, Annie, is going to help us too and she’s a doctor. So if you’re going to give birth on the beach, you’ve got a good team.’

‘Lucky I picked this spot for a swim then… Oh no, there’s another contraction coming.’

‘It’s okay, Freya. I want you to pant through it, just like I said. The baby is still going to come, we’re just going to keep it slow and steady. Like we’ve been doing.’

‘What do you need me to do?’ Annie was kneeling at Hope’s side now and somehow that instantly made it feel less scary, despite her sister’s confession that she’d never assisted in the delivery of a baby before. Just having her there helped.

‘We’re going to do something called the somersault manoeuvre.’ Hope looked at Annie, who shook her head, clearly having no idea what she was talking about.

‘When the baby’s shoulders look ready to be delivered, we’re going to push the head towards Freya’s thigh in the direction of the perineum.’

‘Okay.’ Annie looked doubtful.

‘The power of the contraction will then be concentrated on the baby’s bottom and keeping the head down near the perineum means the baby’s body will almost flip past its head and the cord will unloop itself.’ Hope made it sound so easy, as if she did this sort of thing in deliveries she wasn’t prepared for all the time.

‘I’ll do whatever you need me to, just tell me.’

‘I’ve got another contraction coming and I really want to push!’ Freya grimaced again.

‘I know you do, but I promise that panting through it is the best way to go.’ Hope looked down. ‘Okay, I can see the shoulders emerging, I need you to gently push baby’s head towards Freya’s thigh, Annie.’ Hope put her hand on Freya’s shoulder. ‘And you can push with the next contraction, but don’t try to force anything. Just go with your natural urge. We’re nearly ready but slow and steady is still the best way.’

‘Oh my God!’ Freya screamed the words, but she was harnessing the power of her pain too and the baby was clearly in a hurry, performing the somersault manoeuvre as if he was an old hand and freeing himself from the cord. Hope caught him before he could hit the sand, as he gave the kind of lusty cry that was music to her ears.

‘Well done, Freya. You’ve got a beautiful little baby,’ she said, lifting the little boy up onto his mother’s chest, but not revealing the sex until Freya had a chance to see for herself.

‘It’s a boy.’ Freya was laughing and crying, stroking her baby’s little body.

‘I’ve got some clean towels if you need them?’ a disembodied voice called out and Annie leapt to her feet, returning with the towels and lying them over Freya and her baby.

‘Logan is going to be so happy, because I said we could stop if we had a boy, and I don’t think I could top a delivery on the beach, could I?’ Freya was laughing again now, and Hope squeezed her shoulder for a second time.

‘I don’t think you could. It’ll go down as my most memorable delivery too and I’ve done quite a few.’