Dispatcher 'forever grateful' to SAS staff after sudden birth

An ACC dispatcher with the Scottish Ambulance Service has said she will be “forever grateful” to the staff who rushed her to hospital after she went into labour unexpectedly at home.

Aimee Hogg, from Bathgate, was 38 weeks pregnant with her third child and due to have a planned caesarean section the following week.

However, her waters broke just before 2am on 26 March while she was in bed. A 999 call was made at 1:50am, answered by Marianne Mckeown (West ACC) with Tony Vallance, Technician at Bathgate Ambulance Station, responding first after being dispatched by Amy Bennett (East ACC). He was then followed by a Sauchie crew of Tracy Drysdale, Samantha Derrick and Chantelle Patrick, Student Paramedic.

The crews transported Aimee to St John’s Hospital, where she gave birth to her third child, Ally, at 3:23am.

Aimee, 32, said: “I am forever grateful to them all and wanted to pass on my heartfelt thanks. Everyone who was there was so calm, reassuring and quick-thinking. I had a placental abruption, which is a life-threatening situation for the baby, and sometimes the mum too. If it wasn’t for them, it could have been a very different story.

“It was an emergency situation and, thanks to their quick actions, my son was born safely within an hour of us arriving at St John’s Hospital while I was under general anaesthetic. The crews were amazing and made me feel like I had no need to panic.”

Speaking about the incident, Aimee said she remained calm throughout, although she knew the situation was serious due to the severity of the bleeding.

She added: “I was focused on resolving the situation quickly, such as calling an ambulance and getting to hospital as soon as possible, rather than being scared. In the days afterwards, I really struggled mentally with the ‘what ifs’. I was reassured that we did the right thing by acting so quickly, as the outcome could have been much worse for both the baby and me. It was a very fast chain of events that only happened because of the rapid and clear decision-making by everyone involved.”

Aimee said her previous births had been less complicated. Her first daughter was delivered by caesarean section after labour failed to progress, but there was no immediate danger at any point.

She added: “My second was an elective caesarean and everything went smoothly and to plan. This time, I was due to have another elective section, but my son had other ideas.”

Aimee said her husband, Stuart, is planning to run the Edinburgh Marathon next year in aid of St John’s Hospital as a way of saying thank you.