The Midwife's Christmas Miracle (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 5)

Ruth smiled. ‘Oh, don’t worry about that—the work I’ve got for him, he’ll still be here at New Year, but he certainly won’t be sleeping.’

Jake gently covered Lucy with a blanket and stood up. ‘Stop worrying,’ he said softly, and then turned to Miranda. ‘I want her kept on the monitor for the time being and let me know if there’s any changes. I’ll be back to check on her when I’ve seen the other lady.’

Miranda nodded and he turned to Ruth. ‘Where is she?’

‘Room 2.’

Jake could see from the look on Ruth’s face that she was expecting the consultation to be difficult, and the moment he walked into the room he knew that she was right. The couple didn’t appear to be speaking but the atmosphere crackled with tension.

The husband was hovering helplessly in the background and the woman, Gail, was leaning over a beanbag and her face was pale and sweaty. The moment she saw Jake, her features tensed.

‘I need to tell you straight away that I don’t want to be here and I certainly don’t want any intervention.’

‘Of course you don’t.’ Jake’s voice was calm as he walked across to her and pulled up a chair. ‘I’m Jake Blackwell, one of the obstetric consultants. I gather you were hoping for a home birth so being in here must be rather a shock for you.’

‘I’ve had three at home and one in hospital.’ She glared at him and then winced as another pain gripped her. ‘And I don’t want to repeat the experience. It’s all monitors and machines that beep at you. That isn’t what nature intended.’

‘I completely agree.’

She stared at him. ‘You do?’

‘Absolutely. My belief is that nature should be allowed the upper hand, unless she appears to be getting things wrong which, I’m afraid, she sometimes does.’ He turned to look at Ruth, his gaze questioning. ‘Notes?’

‘I’ve requested them from her hospital,’ Ruth murmured. ‘I’m going to get someone else to take Lucy to the ward and ask Miranda to come in here. I think she’d be helpful.’ She slid out of the room, leaving Jake alone with the couple.

He looked at the CTG trace that Ruth had handed him and studied the pattern. Then he put the trace down on the table and concentrated his attention on Gail, knowing that he was going to have to handle her carefully.

‘All right. I think honesty is the best way forward so I’m going to be straight with you.’

She tensed and glared at him with blatant hostility. ‘You want to induce me so that you can have this room for the next poor woman—’

‘I’m not given to inducing women unless the health of the baby is threatened,’ Jake said smoothly, aware that Miranda had just entered the room. ‘I’ve certainly never induced a woman to satisfy a staffing or bed need and I don’t intend to start now.’

‘I had three babies at home with no problems.’ Her voice rose and her husband put a hand on her arm to calm her. ‘And then with number four my placenta was low-lying so they had to take me in and I had a Caesarean section. And they were all totally useless! I had an infection and was really ill—’

‘Oh, you poor thing.’ Miranda hurried across the room. ‘I can quite see why you wouldn’t want to be here. You must be terribly anxious about it all.’

Jake looked at her and felt a flicker of admiration. She’d seen through the stroppy, angry exterior and seen the anxiety, just as he had.

‘You obviously had a less than perfect experience last time,’ he said quietly, turning his attention back to Gail, ‘and for that I’m sorry. It’s always disappointing when childbirth doesn’t go as nature intended.’

‘It was a nightmare. I shouldn’t be here.’ Gail glared at her husband. ‘And I wouldn’t be if your mother hadn’t forced the issue.’

‘She didn’t want you having a baby in her kitchen on Boxing Day, love,’ her husband said awkwardly, running a finger around the neck of his jumper as if it was suddenly too tight. Gail tried to struggle to her feet.

‘

Well, I’m sorry if I’m inconveniencing everybody, but I just want to go home now!’

Miranda slipped an arm around her shoulders. ‘Please, Gail, just stay and listen to Mr Blackwell. He’ll take a look at you and make some suggestions. We’re asking you to listen, that’s all. No one’s forcing anything on you.’

‘I had three babies at home with no problems whatsoever.’ Gail’s voice rose as she looked at Jake. ‘Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have this one at home.’

‘Because having had a Caesarean section last time, you’ll be at slight risk of the scar opening up,’ he said frankly. ‘And with your fifth baby you’re more likely to have other problems, so it’s safer for both of you if you’re in an environment where we’re geared up to help if necessary.’

‘Intervene, you mean.’

Jake picked up the trace and leaned towards Gail. ‘Look at this.’ He ran his finger over the line on the paper. ‘This tells me that your baby’s heart rate was a bit slow here—and again here. I want to keep an eye on that.’