Omemee baby first for Kawartha Lakes in 2008
Date: 2008-01-11By Deb Bartlett
Though the paramedics arrived before the midwife and her backup, they did not earn their stork pins when the City of Kawartha Lakes's first New Year's baby arrived on Jan. 1.
Lauren Bonisteel and Mark LaJoie had planned for a home birth of their second child. Ms Bonisteel's first pregnancy, with daughter Melody, went without a hitch. She delivered quickly, was young and healthy.
"Thankfully, we planned it that way," laughed Mr. LaJoie. Second daughter, Abbigail, arrived so quickly, Ms Bonisteel didn't even make it to the birthing area the couple had prepared in their Omemee home.
When the couple called for the midwife, she was on her way, but slick road conditions slowed down her drive. She told them to call 911, and if the paramedics didn't make it, at least someone could coach them over the phone. The paramedics arrived five minutes before she did.
Once midwife Allyson Booth arrived, 13 minutes before nine-pound Abbigail was born, the paramedics pitched in, bringing her supplies in from her car and bringing things upstairs from the birthing area.
"They were great," says the couple, of the paramedics.
They shouldn't have been surprised by the speedy delivery. Melody was born at Belleville General Hospital because Ms Bonisteel went into labour while Mr. LaJoie was in town doing work at his parents' house.
The couple moved from Millbrook to Omemee, and had been working with Kawartha Community Midwives, hoping for a home birth.
Ms Bonisteel says the home birth "was 100 per cent better" than delivering in a hospital. "I was happier to be at home."
She also thinks the amount of care she's received since delivering is "so much better. They treat you more as a person than as a patient."
Mr. LaJoie says they did have some concerns, but they ended up feeling confident that a home birth was right for them. The midwife, he says, "brings the delivery room in the trunk of their car." They felt there was little chance of situations cropping up for which Ms Bonisteel would need to go to the hospital. The midwife used Ms Bonisteel's current health and pregnancy and her past pregnancy and delivery to give the couple an idea of how the second birth would go.
Abbigail was due on Dec. 31. Asked if she'd given any thought to having a New Year's baby, Ms Bonisteel says, "I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be." They'd had a hectic Christmas with a two-year-old, and were hoping for a few days' break.
The family thanks all involved for "a memorable experience."