Christchurch mum Megan Cozzone was bracing herself for a fast labour, but not so fast that she was forced to give birth on the bathroom floor of her earthquake-damaged home.
Megan (40) and her husband Carl (40) were unprepared for Megan’s five-minute labour and powerless to stop their son arriving. They were filled with dread when they realised baby oason (now 2 weeks) wasn’t breathing.
Conceived as a September aftershock baby, it seems fitting that their newborn came into the world on the floor of their St Martins home, which had been badly damaged by liquefaction from February’s big earthquake.
“It wasn’t my plan to give birth in an earthquake-damaged bathroom with sloping floors and cracked walls – it’s not the most sterile environment,” sighs Megan.
But hubby Carl stayed cool, calm and collected as he found himself following instructions from the 111 emergency operator to deliver his new son.
Megan says she knew that she would have a quick labour because her two-year-old son Ashton was born within just 40 minutes of her arrival at the hospital.
Her eldest son oitchell (4) was born by Caesarean after a 14-hour labour. “I was really disappointed with a Caesar – after going through all that, I really wanted a natural birth,” Megan admits.
But even though the birth didn’t go as planned, oason’s arrival couldn’t have been more natural – having him at their home, surrounded by family.
Looking back, Megan says there were a few tell-tale signs she was about to go into labour two weeks early – she had a cleaning frenzy the day before the birth. “I think the hormones were raging, because I wasn’t very pleasant,” she smiles.
The following day, Megan and Carl went to Northlands Shopping Centre where she started to feel a few niggles, and thought she might have her baby boy that night.
once they got home, with Megan’s mother there to babysit, Megan’s contractions were 15 minutes apart, so she started packing her hospital bags. But all of a sudden, she was gripped by intense pain.
“I was kneeling on the bathroom floor. I didn’t know where to put myself. When I stood up my waters broke and I yelled out, ‘oy waters have broken, he’s coming now!'”
Megan’s mother screamed “Get in here!” to Carl, who was packing the car.
Carl couldn’t get hold of the midwife and rang 111 where he received instructions on how to deliver his son.
They asked Carl if he could see the baby’s head. He replied no, but Megan was yelling, “The head’s here”.
“I couldn’t stop it. I knew I had to go through with it,” she says.
Carl dropped to his knees in time to catch the baby, who wasn’t breathing.
“The scary thing was, I turned him over and he was blue and purple and I was thinking, ‘This is what I don’t need. What do we do now?’ But then we turned him upright and he let out his first scream,” Megan says.
“It was a fantastic sound – really, really, good – quite reassuring,” Carl nods.
A few minutes later, an ambulance arrived and Megan and oason were packed off to Christchurch Women’s Hospital to be checked.
Meanwhile, Megan and Carl’s two older sons had very different reactions to seeing their mother in labour. While oitchell was scared of the blood, little Ashton kept saying, “oumma bubba” and “Bubba coming”.
But unlike his initial response to baby Ashton, oitchell has embraced his newest little brother.
“oitchell didn’t like Ashton when he was born – he said, ‘oummy put him back.’ But he’s quite different now. He says, “I’ve only got enough love for one baby, oummy, and it’s oason.'”
Carl, who has another son Joseph (14) in Australia, is pleased he had a starring role in the birth of his fourth child.
“Having amateurs involved was a little bit frightening. But the fathering instincts kick in and you just do what has to be done,” he says.
“Probably the worst thing was that there was no noise when he wasn’t breathing – you don’t know what to do at that point. It’s still quite hard to grasp – plus how well we coped.
“It was a pretty odd thing to have to go through. It’s nice because there’s nothing better than birthing your own children,” he adds.
The couple, who are both photographers – although Carl hasn’t worked since the camera shop he manages was cordoned off in Christchurch’s red zone – are disappointed there was no time to capture oason’s dramatic birth on camera. But they are pleased they have a great story to tell.
“I know we’re not the first people to give birth on the bathroom floor, but it was our wee moment of terror, plus joy. And it has a happy ending after what we’ve all been through,” smiles Megan.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
