Chloe HughesWest Midlands
Paramedic services student Elise Faragher had no idea her routine hospital placement would see her helping to deliver the baby of someone very familiar.
The third-year student was at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital when her lecturer, Aaron Collins, and his wife Lexy, came in to have an elective C-section.
Mr Collins had taught Elise anatomy, physiology, and all about what happens during childbirth.
“I was confused and shocked when I first saw Aaron on the day,” Ms Faragher said.
“I thought he might have come to visit me on placement, but I quickly realised that wasn’t what he was there for.
“Once baby Luca had been checked, I tapped Aaron on the shoulder and asked if he’d like to cut the cord – a student doesn’t get to ask their lecturer that question very often.”
Mr Collins, who has taught Ms Faragher since her first year, and she said they get on really well.
“We have a lot of fun and jokes,” she said.
“Aaron is very caring and supportive, and he has been there to help me gain confidence throughout the last few years.”
‘Very professional’
Since assisting with the birth, she has gone on to help deliver her first baby while on placement with the ambulance service.
It was a “surreal moment” seeing her at the hospital, Mr Collins said.
“She was very professional and checked with us both that we were happy for her to stay, which we were,” he explained.
“She did incredibly well assisting in a birth with her lecturer present…. it’s a situation that could have felt daunting, but she did everything she should have done.”
He added that Luca was doing really well.
“He’s hitting his milestones just as he should be, and he’s putting on weight nicely while giving us lots of laughs and babbles; everything a baby should be doing,” he added.
