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Woman dressed as bumble bee gives birth after friend's hen night - and she didn't even know she was pregnant
Last updated at 17:47pm on 09.06.08
Stunned Ally Ashwell was left with quite a hangover from a friend's hen night - a baby she didn't know she was having.
After touring the pubs and clubs of rowdy Blackpool dressed as a bumble-bee the 30-year-old's night was brought to a jaw-dropping end when she went into premature labour in her hotel bedroom.
While the rest of the hens continued to party she delivered her baby alone in the bathroom, before paramedics arrived and rushed the tiny newborn, named Owen, to hospital.
Surprise: Ally Ashwell, 30, with baby Owen who arrived at just 26 weeks
At just 26 weeks and weighing a fragile 2lb his life hung in the balance but although he has remained in intensive care, he has been steadily growing stronger.
Ally, who lives with partner Alan Warneford in Newcastle, said: 'I had no idea I was pregnant until the moment my waters broke in the hotel bathroom.
'I had been feeling ill all night but didn't want to spoil everyone's fun, so tried to keep going.
'I thought I might have had a kidney infection as I had back ache and kept needing to go to the toilet. But I got progressively worse and in the end went back to the hotel.
'When I was in the bathroom my waters broke and I realised I must be having a baby and dialled 999.
'It seemed like just minutes later that Owen was born. He was tiny, just the size of my hand.
'Instinct must have taken over as I think I was quite calm. I've only ever seen births on television before and I cleared his mouth to make sure he could breathe and wrapped him up and rubbed him and tried to keep him warm.
'The paramedics came and resuscitated him on the bed they said they had to take him straight to hospital or he wouldn't make it.
'I think it was as soon as they took him off me that I realised what had just happened and everything after that is a bit of a blank until I woke up in hospital.
'But I remember my roommate coming into the bathroom dressed as a bumblebee. She got the shock of her life when she saw the blood everywhere and realised what had happened.
'I think in a few months I will be able to see the funny side, but at the moment I am still stranded down here away from my family and it all seems a bit surreal.'
As soon as he heard the news new dad Alan, 48, a self employed dry-liner, rushed down to his partner's side in hospital to see his son, who was born at 1.55am on Saturday May 17.
Family members including Ally's parents Carole, of Whitley Bay and Andrew, of Forest Hall have also visited to see their unexpected grandson.
Ally and Alan are now trying to find a new home for their expanded family as their one-bed flat will be too small.
Ally had also just started work has a HR officers, ironically at Newcastle's RVI.
She said: 'They knew I had been on a hen weekend and probably thought I was ringing in sick because of a hangover or I'd fallen over and hurt myself - when I told them it was because I'd had a baby they couldn't believe it.
'I keep telling people I had no signs of pregnancy. I didn't feel sick or put on weight and my cycle continued as normal.
'I have read about this kind of thing in women's magazines and thought they must have known - now it has happened to me.
'We weren't planning to have a baby and this is a total shock that has turned our lives upside down.
'But when the nurses take Owen from the incubator and place him on me and I see him open his eyes, I have no regrets and love him to bits.'
Ally has praised the paramedics and medics who acted so quickly to save her son's life.
Paramedic Phil Duggan, who was first on the scene said: 'I was first into the bathroom and clamped and cut the cord and handed the baby to Vicky. He looked pretty flat.
'He did have a heartbeat, but his breathing was not what it should have been so we had to help him - it wasn't full resuscitation, but we had to ventilate him.
'We are trained for this sort of thing, but it doesn't happen very often. Happily it all ran smoothly.'
Dr Ian Freeman, paediatric registrar at The Vic, said: 'It is very unusual for a baby to be born in this situation, I think Owen has surprised us all by the progress he has made.
'At 26 weeks, the chance for survival is probably about 50 to 60 per cent and the fact he was born outside hospital will have reduced that survival rate.
'So it's a tribute to the paramedics for their work and to him for being a little fighter.'
Blackpool ambulance boss Dave Rigby said he was 'very proud' with the way his team had dealt with the incident.
Bed shortages at the special care baby unit in Newcastle's RVI mean that three weeks since his birth mum and baby Owen are still stranded in Blackpool, waiting for news that they can return home to their family.
Doctors at the RVI say they are doing their best to get Owen back in the North East.
Reader views (8)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Who do Graeme, D.Campbell and C.Alexander think they are?
It is no wonder the world is like it is when morons like this are permitted to comment on something they OBVIOUSLY have no knowledge of.
Free speech is the right of those lucky enough to be born into a country that bestows the privilege- but it's people like this that suggest perhaps the right should not exist for the ignorant and uneducated.
This woman has been through something extraordinary, and for you to post such horrible comments suggests more about you than it ever could about any apparent 'wrongdoing' on her part.
You should be ashamed.
- Isabella, Australia
I really cannot believe Graeme's comment about the mother returning to work while her baby is in hospital. Yes, I am sure that eventually she will receive maternity pay, but as she was working herself, the mother has probably paid her contributions too, and so is entitled to receive her paid maternity leave - regardless of where the baby is. As the birth was completely unexpected the parents will have to equip themselves with cot, pram, etc - which takes time and money - so the maternity leave & pay would be very helpful to the new mother.
The suggestion of her leaving her premature baby in the hospital in Lancashire and head off to Newcastle to go back to work is incredible!
Having a baby is a life-changing event, you can't go back to "business as usual" the next day - especially for mothers, who have gone through a huge physical and emotional event. Also, the fact that the baby is being kept in hospital suggests that his health is still delicate, and so is very important that the parents are close at hand.
I wish the parents all the best with their surprise arrival, and hope that there will be no ill-effects on the baby's health due to the fact that the mother wasn't aware that she was pregnant.
- Elaine, Italy
Well done to mum for being so clear thinking and to the team who saved him and who continue to work on him. A little miracle.
Graeme - your ignorance amazes me. Premature babies need their mother’s breast milk to be pumped every 3/4 hours. Breast milk contains colostrum which helps (all babies but particularly prem babies) grow and fight of infections. and the presence and physical contact (known as kangaroo care) improves baby’s survival rate, dramatically, as studies show. As you can see in the picture she can cuddle her baby. Babies need cuddles as well as air and milk. It helps them grow.
Also the mother needs to be near her child, it is what is called maternal instinct. She might suffer from depression or shock, if she didn't even know she was pregnant and then was sent back to work. That would then knock onto to her ability to parent Owen when he came home.
I imagine you think you are being controversial but is seems to me you are just showing ignorance.
- Emmajordan, Suffolk, England
Graeme's comments are harsh, but perhaps he isn't aware that mothers are not allowed to return to work for a period of 2 weeks following delivery. Maternity leave is for the mother to take care of her baby and herself. Giving birth is putting the body through trauma and takes many months to recover, let alone when the event is a huge surprise!
- Edward, Bakewell, UK
Well Done!
Its is amazing the resilience that little babies have - congratulations to the mum and her little fighter.
It is a pity the mum was unaware of her pregnancy and therefore was out drinking, but the mother cannot be blamed as she was unaware of the risks!
I personally wish the baby and his family all the best and hope that he grows healthily and is home soon.
- D. Campbell, Lincoln, UK
This woman is not stranded, she should come home and leave her son in the capable hands of the Blackpool hospital and return to work until they discharge him. It's only fair on her employer and us the tax payer. Maternity leave is so the mother can look after the baby, as it is being looked after in hospital she should return to work.
Also it would be a waste of NHS resources to transfer the child to North East when it can be treated in Blackpool.
If she wants to visit her son, she can do so at weekends, although she really needs to go back there to collect him when he is discharged.
- Graeme, Newcastle upon Tyne
Excuse me, perhaps some of us here are a bit slow, but what exactly to you mean by a "bumble bee outfit"? I mean, was the woman dressed like a bee?
- Richard, Aberdeen, USA
There is an extraordinary serious side to this matter. This woman was on a 'pub crawl.' This would indicate that she had been consuming alcohol while pregnant. It is likely - indeed almost inevitable that the baby will bee a victim of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - FAS, a condition with devastating lifelong effect on those affected. In Canada FAS is taken very seriously indeed by the medical profession and by governments.
- C. Alexander Brown, Rockcliffe Park, Canada.
