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

He frowned. ‘That will slow her labour down.’

Miranda took a deep breath. ‘On the contrary, I’ve often found that the relaxing effect of the water actually pushes labour forward, providing the mother isn’t put into the water too soon. Daisy didn’t go in until she was five centimetres dilated and now she’s—’

‘I want her out of the pool for delivery.’ Mr Hardwick’s mouth tightened. ‘It’s impossible to estimate blood loss in 600 litres of water.’

‘Of course.’ Miranda felt her hackles rise. ‘There’s nothing to suggest that this will be anything other than a routine, normal delivery. The foetal heart is—’

‘Obstetrics is nothing if not unpredictable, young lady,’ the consultant interrupted her again, his tone frosty. He then turned to Ruth. ‘I’ll be in my office for another hour and then I have a car picking me up.’

Without uttering another word, he strode off the labour ward and Ruth sighed.

‘Sorry about that. Communication skills aren’t his forte.’

‘Nice for the mothers,’ Miranda said dryl

y. ‘Now I see why Daisy finds him scary.’

‘Yes, well, Jake is on tonight so if there are any problems we’ll get him to sort her out, quietly and competently, while Mr H. is eating his starter,’ Ruth said quickly, picking up a set of notes and making for the door. ‘How’s she doing, anyway?’

‘Fine. I don’t anticipate any problems.’

She was to regret those words.

Daisy’s labour continued smoothly and as she reached the end of the first stage, Annie and Miranda helped her out of the pool.

Daisy groaned and slumped over a beanbag. ‘I’m going to kneel. It’s what we agreed would be best and it’s what I feel I want to do.’

‘Fine. Use any position that feels right.’ Opening a delivery pack and quickly snapping on a pair of gloves, Miranda examined the labouring woman. ‘I can see the baby’s head, Daisy. You’re doing so well. It won’t be long now.’

Daisy continued to push and the head was delivered but then immediately retracted.

It wasn’t something that Miranda had ever seen before but she knew exactly what it meant and felt cold fingers of panic slide down her spine. Without hesitation, she reached out and hit the emergency buzzer behind Daisy’s head.

‘Daisy, you’re doing really well,’ she said calmly, ‘but the baby’s shoulders don’t seem to want to be born so we just need a bit of help here.’

And she needed it quickly. There wasn’t going to be any time to disturb Mr Hardwick’s dinner. They had minutes to deliver the baby.

‘I want you to turn all the way over and back onto all fours—Annie and I are going to help you.’

She knew that such a manoeuvre might help dislodge the baby, but in this case nothing happened and seconds later Ruth hurried into the room, closely followed by Jake.

‘She’s had two contractions with no restitution—Turtle’s sign—and having her on all fours hasn’t worked,’ Miranda told them quickly.

Without any further questioning, Jake immediately took charge.

‘We’ll try the McRoberts manoeuvre. I need you on your back, Daisy, and I need you to stop pushing—can we get her onto the bed, please?’

Ruth and Miranda quickly helped Daisy onto the bed and flexed and abducted her legs while Jake washed his hands and pulled on a pair of gloves.

He applied supra-pubic pressure then did something magical with his hands and the baby slithered out, screaming and bawling.

‘Little girl, Daisy,’ Jake said calmly, clamping the cord and handing the baby to the mother, as relaxed as if it had been a perfectly normal delivery.

It was only then that Miranda realised that she’d been holding her breath. The tension left her in a rush and her knees suddenly felt weak.

As if sensing her state, Jake gave her a gentle smile. ‘Everything’s fine. Good job, Miranda.’

She swallowed, grateful for the praise but not at all sure that it was justified. He was the one who’d delivered the baby, and with a minimum of fuss and bother. He’d been so calm that it was quite possible that Daisy had no idea of just how serious the situation had been. Suddenly she was swamped by uncertainties and insecurities. What if he hadn’t been just down the corridor? What if they’d had to call Mr Hardwick away from his dinner? He never would have arrived on time.