A father waiting for his partner to give birth in the maternity unit of a hospital in Blackburn, Lancashire had to turn midwife himself, after the hospital’s midwife went missing during the labour.

The Daily Mail reports that Thomas Howard repeatedly pushed the alarm button as his partner Emily Baron, 26, tried to deliver their daughter Madeline at the Royal Blackburn Hospital on Tuesday (26/01/10).

Mr Howard, 33, said that by the time the midwife had reappeared, his daughter had already been delivered.

Ms Baron was taken to the hospital after going into labour – Mr Howard followed after making arrangements for their other children to be looked after.

Ms Baron was already losing blood when he arrived – but when he asked the midwife if this was normal, she allegedly replied by saying she did not know.

Mr Howard and Ms Baron were then left on their own. When the baby’s head appeared, Mr Howard pressed the alarm bell – but when no one responded, he decided to deliver his daughter himself:

'I have never done anything like it before, but I've seen others do it a few times, so I had a rough idea,’ said Mr Howard.

'The baby was lying at the end of the bed between Emily's legs and I was cleaning the mucous out of her mouth and making sure she could breathe when the midwife came back in.

’I was in shock at what had happened but the nurse didn't say anything to me. She just carried on as if it was normal,’ Mr Howard added.

He said that the couple felt angry at the quality of care they received – especially as they had experienced problems at the births of their other four children, aged between nine and one year. Their one-year-old daughter was born with a cleft lip and their two-year-old son had breathing difficulties.

The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) said that being left alone during labour was ‘unacceptable’.

'As a civilised society we must ensure this basic need of women is met. Having a midwife with you when you give birth is vital to ensure there are no complications,’ said a spokesperson.

Divisional general manager in Family Care for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Ruth Gildert, has issued an apology and said the trust would be contacting the couple to discuss their concerns:

'I would like to apologise to Ms Baron and her partner for the distress they experienced when their baby was born at Royal Blackburn Hospital.

'We cannot comment in detail for reasons of patient confidentially, but our midwives supervise all women very closely during labour.

'However there may, on some occasions, be the need to briefly leave the room and a baby can be born unexpectedly quickly, especially if this is not the mother's first child.

'As a result of the concerns expressed, we will be looking very closely into what happened and we will be contacting the family directly to discuss their concerns with them.’

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