A young 24-year-old woman gave birth alone and in less than 20 minutes to her first child in her apartment in Donnacona, a few hours after having had a pregnancy follow-up appointment at the CLSC in Pont-Rouge.
The mother, Abigail Montero Mx, went with her partner, Maximiliano Alcocer Koh, 23, to her follow-up appointment on March 13. Mme Montero, who has lived in Quebec for barely a year, does not speak French.
“There were a few small contractions, but nothing serious. The doctor told us that he could be born in a few days,” says the new father who has been in Quebec for four years.
At this 11 a.m. appointment, labor would have been stimulated for delivery according to Mr. Alcocer Koh, “but I was not told that it could happen in a few hours!”
Maximiliano Alcocer recounts his partner’s particularly rapid delivery. Both mother and child are in good health.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
Because around 4 p.m. that same afternoon, the contractions intensified. Maximiliano then wants to go find his mother who lives in the apartment next to theirs. At that point, the pain was “not uncontrollable.”
“I asked [à ma conjointe] out of 10, how comfortable are you staying by yourself while I go get her. She answered me 8,” he says. “It took maybe 20 minutes and when I came back the baby was born.”
Clamp the cord with a mask
As soon as he returns to the apartment, Maximiliano sees blood from the living room to the bedroom. The mother had lain down to prevent the baby from “falling to the ground.”
The father then uses the elastic from a mask they had for COVID-19 to clamp the umbilical cord. He then calls 911 to have the ambulance come.
“They told me everything to do on the phone while waiting,” he adds.
While all alone with the newborn baby, Abigail Montero even used her own finger to clear her newborn’s mouth so he could breathe.
“I was really scared,” the new mother said in Spanish. “It was unbelievable that it happened at that time.”
Abigail Montero says she was really scared when she had to give birth to her first child alone.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
The three were transported to Saint-François-D’Assise hospital to ensure that the mother and child were out of danger. They are now back home and want to see young Amber grow up healthy.
Asked to explain this exceptional birth, the Integrated University Health and Social Services Center of the Capitale-Nationale did not want to comment on this particular case.