On the way to the hospital, paramedics give birth in their own child’s car

It is January 6 at 10.30 am when Mum Theresa and Papa Alexander, now two children, drive in their own car to the hospital in Wels, almost 30 kilometers away, for the birth of their second son. The intervals between contractions at this time were five to six minutes, and since the first son was still waiting all night with this interval, the couple decided to drive their own car. “We were told that the second child would come sooner. But we didn’t expect it to go so fast,” both parents agreed.

With the onset of contractions, things got serious
Already after a short drive on the outskirts of Eferding, the contractions came at intervals of one to three minutes and Theresa no longer knew what was happening around her, because she had to actively exhale each contraction. Another five minutes later, she felt like she had to push and couldn’t hold it in any longer. “When my wife told me to stop at the next opportunity because she had to push now, I knew it was getting serious now,” Alexander recalls well. He immediately dialed the emergency call and explained to the operator that his wife would now give birth in the car.

father asked as an obstetrician
While Theresa crouched in the backseat, the child’s head was already visible and immediately after that up to the neck in the fresh air. The amniotic sac was still intact and had to be opened by Alexander himself. After three pushing contractions, Jonas was born and Dad’s midwifery skills were immediately in demand. He unraveled the umbilical cord wrapped around his newborn son’s neck and stimulated him for a few seconds until he was breathing.

To help him breathe, he placed his son head down and opened his mouth to drain the remaining amniotic fluid. Baby Jonas was in such a hurry that he met the paramedics who were already wrapped in towels that the parents had brought along just in case of ruptured membranes – no one expected these to be used to keep the baby warm.

First delivery in the car
The rescue and emergency medical team attended to the young family at the scene. Just a few minutes old, Jonas and Mama Theresa had their first ride in an ambulance – the journey went well to the Wels Clinic for further examination. Emergency room Jan Hoffmann, a friend of the parents’ colleague, who cut Jonas’s umbilical cord: “You often have very stressful assignments in the emergency room”, he explains, “giving birth is of course a very nice experience. It was the 5th birth I was allowed to help with, but the 1st in my 23 years as an ambulance nurse.”

‘My husband knows what he’s doing’
Mother and son are in excellent health and the family of four has been able to recover from the exciting experience in recent weeks and is happy that the spontaneous car birth went so well. “I had full confidence in my husband, who is an anesthetist and paramedic himself with many years of experience. I was also reassured that my favorite service partner at the Red Cross is and always will be my husband. Because we understand and trust each other blindly and I know now more than ever that the man knows what he is doing”, Theresa smiles and beams happily at her personal hero and husband.