Bus stop birth drama for our little Faith as dad Andy MacKay helps to deliver his daughter by a bus stop near the Tore roundabout on the A9
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The last thing an Inverness man was expecting when he went to stay with his partner was to get hands on to help with the birth of his daughter at the side of the A9.
Andy MacKay, who is 34 and works as a delivery driver for Highland Industrial Supplies, had travelled to see Amanda Jolly (35) at her Invergordon home. He had just finished work and was planning to stay at his partner’s for the weekend, but she started experiencing pain.
Events unfolded quickly from there, on February 5, with the new family happy to share their story with the Courier now that they have had the chance to catch their breath.
“It really started kicking off about one in the morning,” Mr MacKay said. “Amanda phoned Ward 10 at Raigmore Hospital and they said ‘come in and we will check you out’.”
The couple began to make their way to Inverness at about 1.30am, but just before they got to the Cromarty Bridge Ms Jolly’s waters broke.
Mr MacKay said he rang 999 at that point and was asked by the operator if there was somewhere they could park up and meet the ambulance that was now on its way.
The operator would stay on the line and talk Mr MacKay through what needed to be done while they waited for it to arrive.
Mr MacKay said that, at that point in their journey, Tore was the obvious place to pull off the A9 as he knew there was a bus stop there which had enough room for both his own vehicle and the ambulance.
“The lassie from triple nine on the phone was good at keeping me calm,” he said.
“I was trying to hide that I was panicking so that Amanda did not panic so much.
“I was panicking – but we were concentrating on Amanda.”
He said that on the whole the birth itself was fairly straightforward, apart from a moment when the baby appeared to get stuck.
“That was when the head first came out but it all worked itself out,” he said.
Mr MacKay said he knew everything was definitely OK when he heard his baby daughter crying for the first time.
“The lassie was still on the phone telling me what to do with the baby – to wipe her face and hold her close to mum,” he said.
“I was shocked and emotional.
“It felt like longer but the ambulance arrived 30 seconds after the baby was born.”
In total two ambulances, together with four paramedics, were sent to the scene.
Mr MacKay said his baby, who he and Ms Jolly have named Faith, is doing well despite her unconventional arrival.
“The baby is healthy and doing well,” he said. “Mum is fine and she is just getting over the pain now.”
Mr MacKay’s mum and Faith’s grandmother, Jane MacKay, said she was completely overwhelmed about her son delivering his baby in his car.
“How scary it must have been for both of them,” she said.
“Andy has never seen a baby being born, never mind delivering his own, but he stayed calm until the ambulance arrived – just as she was born and, thankfully baby, dad and mum are all OK.”
