Miracle babies born amid the floods in Queensland

Two Queensland mothers gave birth to their “miracle babies” at their mother’s hospital in Brisbane thanks to local heroes who saved them from the flood that is rising around their homes.

Crystal Henry was heavily pregnant and with flood water rising up the porch of her home in Taringa, thanks to a kind and quick-witted neighbor.

Mrs. Henry and her partner Matt Bridges welcomed their baby boy Angus to his mother’s hospital in Brisbane at 7.30am on Tuesday weighing 3.7kg.

Mr Bridges said he would be forever grateful to his neighbor.

“We didn’t know Rob, but he was more than happy to help us, and I’m very grateful that Angus arrived safely,” he said. “We have a pandemic child with two-year-old daughter Olive, who was born in 2020, and now we have a baby flood.”

Obstetrician-Obstetrician Dr. Paul Konagan said he never gave birth to a child in such chaotic circumstances.

“Given the situation, Crystal and Matt remained very calm. I could not imagine myself at 39 weeks pregnant and stuck in flood waters, ”he said.

For the Sherwood couple, Felicity and Alex Jacques, the local SES team transported them to a safe place hours before their boy’s arrival.

They were having lunch at Mr. Jacques ’mother’s house on Saturday as the water continued to rise.

They called DSNS for help on Sunday when water rose near the top of a traffic light.

“SES has safely taken us ashore to Tuwong,” Mrs. Jacques said. “We stayed overnight at a hotel near the hospital and I started giving birth early the next morning.

“I don’t like to think what it would be like if we weren’t near the hospital.

“I’m so glad our little one is here. It is definitely a small miracle. “

Andrew Jacques was born on March 1, weighing 3.35 kg.

Mater Mother’s Hospital chief operating officer Pola Foley said many moms and families last week took unforeseen steps to get to the hospital to give birth.

“It has been an incredibly stressful time for many of our new moms and dads, but in the last week we have had 188 babies born in South Brisbane despite the flood,” she said.

Mater Mothers’ Hospitals is the largest maternity service provider in Australia, with more than 12,000 children born each year.

SheSociety is a site for Australian women where you can share our stories, experiences, shared skills and communication opportunities.