A schoolgirl from Argoed has been praised for her bravery after helping deliver her new-born brother while on the phone to emergency services.
Shannon Cox, 11, was called into action after her pregnant mother Sarah went into labour in the bathroom of her family home during the early hours of Saturday March 4.
Sarah, 30, was a week overdue and had been running a bath when her waters broke. With husband Wayne at work, it was down to Shannon to call 999.
Sarah said: “It was just me and the kids at home. I started having one or two little pains, nothing major, then went to run a bath and that’s when my waters went.
“Shannon and my two younger ones were home. I woke her up and she phoned for the ambulance, and gave them the details.
“They did ask me to get out of the bath, but I couldn’t manage it so she followed all the instructions they gave her over the phone and before I knew it I’d given birth.
“She did brilliantly, she didn’t question anything and she just got on with it. The team that came were also brilliant and they couldn’t praise her enough for what she did.”
Shannon carried out the instructions given to her over the phone by Welsh Ambulance Service call-handler, Danielle Burrows, and within minutes had successfully delivered the baby in the bath tub.
The quick-thinking 11-year-old then gathered towels to wrap him in and used a shoe lace to tie the umbilical cord, before unlocking the front door to their Argoed home and flagging down the ambulance crew.
As a reward for her bravery she was allowed to choose her brother’s name and decided to call him Riley Henry James.
Mother Sarah, who also has two daughters, Megan and Jessica May, and a son Thomas, said Shannon and three-month-old Riley have developed a special bond.
She said: “She can’t do enough for him and the first thing she does is check if he’s okay. She’s so loving towards him.
“I don’t think Shannon realises just how important what she did was. The only thing she says when people ask her is ‘That’s what the midwives do’, as if it was nothing.
“We’ve also chipped in and bought her a little trophy because we can’t thank her enough.”
Shannon has also been presented with a framed certificate by the Welsh Ambulance Service staff in recognition of her quick and mature actions.
Call-handler Danielle, who has helped to deliver six babies over the phone during her time with the ambulance service, said: “She [Shannon] was as good as gold throughout the entire call. She did everything I asked her to and whenever I asked how her mum was doing she let me know.
“I can remember speaking to her and I could hear Sarah in the background so I was talking to them both, but obviously she had to do a lot of work in preparing her mum for birth.
“There was a lot of commotion, then the next thing I know her mum is on the phone saying the baby’s been delivered and Shannon then had to go and get everything ready.”
Well done, excellent. Maybe it shows that first aid or life skills should be taught in school.