Hero father delivers baby in car park

A HERO father has praised his “amazing” wife after he helped deliver their newborn baby in the car park at Fivemiletown Mart on the coldest night of the year.

Declan and Gemma-Louise Molloy, from outside Ballygawley, dramatically welcomed their third child, Leo, into the world on the roadside during the early hours of Sunday morning.

Despite the couple’s best attempt to get to the hospital on time, the baby wasn’t waiting around and they had to pull over at Fivemiletown Mart, where proud father Declan delivered his newborn baby son in the passenger seat of the couple’s car.

Baby Leo was born at 12.10am, weighing a healthy 7lb 14oz.

Declan said that Gemma started to feel pains around 10.30pm on Saturday evening, and by 11pm, the couple were on their way to the hospital.

Declan said, “Shortly after getting in to bed after 10.30pm, Gemma started to feel some pains.

“I rang my mum to come look after our children and she was up in about 15 minutes so we left immediately.

“It was minus four degrees with a thick fog so driving conditions were awful.

“As soon as we got down to the Omagh line and I got service, I rang 999 as the contractions were severe and very close.

“They told us to pull over and wait but my wife didn’t want to stop and thought we could make it so we continued on.”

The couple called the hospital between Clogher and Fivemiletown and explained the situation but, shortly after, Gemma’s waters broke and Declan was called to action.

He said, “When we were going through Fivemiletown, Gemma said the baby was coming so I pulled into the mart car park at the side of the road and the baby was born.

“I rang 999 and they talked us through the steps and they told me to remove my shoe lace and tie the umbilical cord with it.

“I had to untangle the umbilical cord as it was wrapped around his back and under his leg, and clean him with a pair of shorts I had in the car.

“We then wrapped him in a blanket and held him until the ambulance came.

“The ambulance arrived around 20 minutes later but 999 had stayed on the phone with us until the ambulance arrived.

“They both got checked over before the ambulance took them to hospital and into the maternity ward.

“Thankfully, both are doing great,” said Declan.

Both Gemma and baby Leo got home on Sunday evening around 5pm, and have been getting looked after by Leo’s older siblings, Mila and Noah.

Declan said it was a surreal experience but Gemma was “amazing” throughout the ordeal.

He said, “Gemma was amazing throughout it all, absolutely amazing.

“I couldn’t offer much support on the journey as it was such bad driving conditions and I was fully focused on the road but she was brilliant.

“The paramedics and the hospital staff all commented on how well she had handled the situation and how cool, calm and composed she was,” Declan added.