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09 March 2013

Welcome to the world, Phoebe!

What a delightful story. These days our daily news is so full of tragedy that it’s nice to read something good for a change. It’s not very often, if at all, that we hear of babies being born on a crowded commuter train. Here’s an extract from BBC Kent News:

The grandmother of a baby born on a rush-hour train said the mother and infant are "doing really well".
Marianne Stanley was with Sonia Banks, 22, and her son Allan when Miss Banks went into labour on the 18:18 London Victoria to Maidstone East service on Thursday.
The baby girl was delivered at West Malling and has been named Phoebe.
Mr Stanley, 21, said he was "on cloud nine" and that mother and baby are due to be released from hospital later.
Miss Banks was travelling to Ms Stanley's home with Phoebe's father when the contractions started.
She went into labour five minutes into the journey after boarding at Borough Green, Kent.
Mr Stanley, from Kent, said: "It feels like I'm on cloud nine. I was present at the birth and witnessed everything.
"Everything's fine, they are just waiting for the doctor to do some tests and hopefully mother and baby will be released later."
Ms Stanley said the family was "still in shock", adding that mother and baby were "doing really well".
She said Miss Banks had given birth to the "perfectly healthy" 6lb 13oz baby a week early.
Passengers on the Southeastern service were asked to move off the train or into a separate carriage as an off-duty midwife, nurse and police officer came forward to help.
Ms Stanley thanked everyone who was involved on Thursday.
She added: "We'd also like to apologise to all the passengers who were delayed but the circumstances were such that we simply could not go any further."
Ms Stanley joked that she was having her "fingers broken gently" during the labour, which lasted 15 minutes.
"When we were taken off to go to the ambulance there were people on the platform who gave us a rapturous round of applause and cheered.
"Passengers were lining the platform. It was a fantastic reception."
She said the the guard and the train driver were "extremely helpful", and kept passengers updated by making announcements.
Passenger Steve Allen said: "I was reading my newspaper and the young lady in question who was sat two seats away from me began to make some moaning noises.
"I wonder what was going on and we suddenly all realised she was having contractions."
He added: "It was quite exciting actually, usually everyone reads their newspaper and sits there not saying anything but suddenly we had this fantastic thing happening.
"It was like Christmas."
Train conductor Colin Brooker said he had kept passengers informed about the 37-minute delay, adding: "there was a big cheer when we announced the baby was born".
"We had everyone we needed right there on the train," he said.
"We were only missing a vicar to baptise the baby."
Mr Brooker, a father-of-four added: "In all my 41 years working on the railway I've never experienced anything like this.
"It was amazing. I'll be having some celebration drinks to wet the baby's head."
People took to Twitter to offer their congratulations, including a parody account of Southeastern which tweeted: "Congrats to the woman who gave birth on train from Victoria this evening.
"Hope Southeastern didn't fine your baby for not having a ticket."
A spokeswoman from Southeastern said the train company had sent the mother flowers to congratulate her. 
I absolutely loved this story. 


9 comments:

  1. I read this story this morning - wonderful, it made my day, especially the tag the nurses at the hospital had made for the baby, it will be something for her to treasure. :)

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  2. haha hope they dont charge her for a ticket...that is really cool...and def think that it is nice to hear some good news....

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  3. Awwwwww....makes me smile! What a wonderful story. And what a great group of people to cheer them on.

    Awesome! :-)

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  4. I love good news stories, there are so few of them these days.

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  5. Some happy news coverage... a nice
    start to the day. It does make you smile.

    Hope the remainder of the weekend is as
    nice !! Enjoy every moment.

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  6. What a wonderful story! When those babies are ready, they make their appearance don't they? Thanks for sharing this great story, Valerie!!

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  7. OMG, Valerie, this story put a huge smile on my face!

    I have such soft and tender spot in my heart for anything with new born babies because they're so precious.

    "as an off-duty midwife, nurse and police officer came forward to help."

    WOW...how lucky was it that a midwife, nurse AND police officer where there at the time!

    This story makes me want to CHEER!

    Thanks for sharing, dear lady!

    X

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  8. Hi Pearl, I didn't see the tag... yet! Will go and look now.

    Brian, that thought crossed my mind... smiles.

    Mel, yes, wasn't it GREAT! And flowers too. Just shows how many good people there are in the world.

    BC, you are so right.

    Mona, they do indeed.

    Ron, I KNEW you would like this story. Haha I guess a train is big enough to hold most professionals but, hey, what a lucky coincidence. Cheering with you.

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  9. What a heart-warming story! Glad the baby is fine!

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