Doctor's surgery gets a special delivery

Mother thanks staff at Thatcham Medical Practice after baby Dollie arrived early

THERE was a very special delivery at a local doctor’s surgery recently.

Kylie Cuddihy, from Newbury, was being driven to Reading by her boyfriend Daryl Simmonds and her aunt Kerry Weston.

But little Dollie Simmonds decided she couldn’t wait to get to the Royal Berkshire Hospital to make her appearance and was delivered by a nurse at Thatcham Medical Practice on the A4 instead... and people waiting to see their GP clapped and cheered once they heard Dollie’s cries.

Miss Cuddihy, aged 26, who is a former Trinity School pupil, told the NWN: “My auntie walked in and went up to reception and said I was in labour.

“I had gone to the toilet and within minutes there were nurses and a doctor there to help me. By the time my boyfriend parked the car her head was out.

“It’s not even my doctor’s surgery. They didn’t know anything about me.

“It went really quickly. They were just so good for something that they weren’t expecting.”

Dollie, Miss Cuddihy’s second child, was born two weeks early, weighing 7lbs 2oz, at 12.26pm on July 30.

Miss Cuddihy said that the family only knew Dollie’s time of birth through a photo.

She thanked the staff at the surgery who had erected screens around her and called an ambulance, whose crew took over when they arrived.

“They did everything in the car,” she said. “A midwife came out and it was classed as a home birth.”

As for the people waiting at the surgery, she said: “I know once I had her that they were all cheering, but I think I was in my own little world.”

Senior partner at the practice, Dr Richard Rudgley, said: “The first I knew about it was when a very ashen-faced nurse said ‘Richard you have to come here’.

“I thought it was something serious like a heart attack.

“When I arrived there was an incredible scene with mum, dad and another relative, two nurses and a baby being held aloft, just been born. It was an absolutely incredible scene.

“It was a really feel good moment for the practice.

“It can be pretty relentless with patients coming in, but this was a real feelgood moment and we were all talking about it for the next few days.”

Dr Rudgley, said that his role in the birth was minimal, but added: “Nothing like this has happened before. I’ve been here for 25 years, this is a first for me and probably the last.”

He said the real heroes were nurses Bethany Slade and Sue Lindsay, who stayed “calm and confident” during the birth.

“Birth is a natural event, we put screens up outside the toilet,” he said. “The nurses basically delivered the baby. Beth held the baby and we got blankets and a hat.”

Miss Slade started as a newly qualified nurse and has been at the practice for just under a year. Mrs Lindsay, meanwhile, has been at the practice for 11 years.

Speaking about the surgery becoming a maternity ward, Dr Rudgely said it offered “an atmosphere that can remain calm and confident, even though we are not used to having this kind of event happening”.

“I do think we would be considered professional,” he said.