Ruihi Maaka thought she would be on cloud nine after the birth of her baby – but she didn’t expect it to actually happen. In a dramatic ordeal, Ruihi was forced to give birth to her fourth child in mid-air last month, after a 30-minute journey in the Northland Emergency Services Trust helicopter proved too long for baby Awhitia to wait.
“We were just over Whangarei when I felt she needed to come – I just knew I needed to push,” says Ruihi (28), hugging her daughter tightly as she recovers at their Northland home. It was a terrifying end to a difficult labour. After Awhitia had become distressed in the womb, doctors decided to break Ruihi’s waters at Kaitaia Hospital and then send her by helicopter to Whangarei Hospital for the delivery.
“They thought there would be enough time for me to get there – [the birth] was supposed to take a lot longer than that!” exclaims Ruihi, who is also mum to three boys, Reagan (11), Akatania (10) and Pouaka (8). “But I guess she was tired of waiting by then, she just wanted to come out.”
Supported by her mother-in-law, a midwife and a paramedic, Ruihi gave birth to Awhitia, who was two weeks overdue, five minutes before the helicopter landed in Whangarei – and without any pain relief. “My other three births were fine, they were natural and easy, but this one was hard,” she says as she carefully tucks a pink blanket around Awhitia. “I hadn’t wanted to be induced because all my other children were born naturally, but I had pain relief with all the others. It was painful, that’s for sure!”
Despite her complicated labour, it was only after the birth that Ruihi started to worry about her newborn daughter, who wasn’t crying. “By then I was nervous, but then the midwife started working on her and finally
got her to cry. After that, all of it was just such a huge relief,” says Ruihi.
As the helicopter finally landed – with one more person on board than it took off with – Awhitia was whisked off to receive treatment before being reunited with her mum. “As soon as we landed, they rushed her off straightaway so they could fix her up – that took about 30 minutes,” says Ruihi. During that time, she and her anxious mother-in-law waited as they frantically tried to get in touch with Ruihi’s partner Wetine, who was fishing off the west coast.
“When he finally got to the hospital he was just shocked,” recalls Ruihi. “But my mother-in-law, she was still freaking out. She’d never been in a helicopter before, so she was scared. She was more scared of the helicopter than me having the baby – I think the midwife was coaching her more than me!
“It was my first time in a helicopter too, actually. I don’t think I ever want to get on one again,” she laughs. With Awhitia now safe at home with her parents and brothers, the only thing left to do is figure out how to fill in her birth certificate. “It’s not like you can put down ‘in the air’ for her place of birth,” smiles Ruihi, who is thrilled to have a daughter. “It’s nice to have another girl in the house. With the three boys, the house can get pretty loud! I’ve wanted a girl for a while.”
With Ruihi putting the dramas of giving birth behind her, the family is finally complete. “I’m just thinking, ‘Choice, I don’t have to have any more now!’” she laughs. Even though her delivery was far from normal, Awhitia is not the first Northland baby to be born on the chopper, with Tamaho Paora born in the“rescue helicopter delivery suite” in 2003. It seems Awhitia has tired of drama after her sky-high birth, proving to be an easy baby who is interested in everything that’s going on around her.
“She’s a really good sleeper; the boys were the same. She’s just beautiful,” says Ruihi. “And at least now she’ll have a good story to tell at her 21st birthday!”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
