A member of the public gave birth to a baby girl at the ticket office of Mechelen railway station this morning. The woman received assistance from a trainee midwife, who happened to be in the vicinity. The baby, a girl, is in good health.
Nancy and Luk were on duty at Mechelen railway station this morning. "At 7 a.m. we were ready, as always, to open the ticket offices," says Luk. "We suddenly saw people from the Securail security team turning up with a woman in tears. At first, we thought an incident had occurred - that the woman had been attacked or something - but then it turned out that she was in labour," Nancy explains.
"The guys asked us if we had cloths for the woman to lie on," says Luk. "She was then brought in here and gave birth at counter 2. The baby, a girl was born even before emergency medics attended the scene."
Trainee midwife does 'fantastic job'
“A trainee midwife was also in the vicinity. She did a fantastic job guiding the mother through her delivery. It only took a quarter of an hour before the baby was born. It all went very smoothly. The baby immediately started crying, a girl; it was adorable to see. It’s very special to start your day like that," says Nancy.
When the emergency medics arrived, they administered initial care and took the mother and the baby to the hospital.
Mum is a local
“We are not aware of the exact identity of the mother but it's definitely a lady from the neighbourhood,” says Nancy. “I have three children of my own, so I have experienced deliveries before, but not at work of course,’ Luk laughs. “Fortunately, everything went smoothly, because you can never be sure.”
“The trainee midwife was very calm and had everything under control. ‘No need to thank me’ she said after the delivery, ‘that's just my job’. When the mother and child were taken away, she received a thunderous applause from all present.”