Firemen deliver! Crew aids mother giving birth to baby on a rooftop
When you sign up to be a firefighter, you don’t expect to count “delivering babies on rooftops” as one of your duties.
But that’s what these City of Cape Town firefighters ended up doing when they were called out to a house in Belhar early on Tuesday morning.
Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, said the crew from Belhar Fire Station received a call at 4.40am and when they got to the address, they found a woman in labour on the roof of the house.
According to Smith, climbing the roof was the only way the woman could get out of the yard of the property.
The woman is believed to have given birth to a boy.
“Staff clamped and cut the baby’s umbilical cord, and monitored his vitals until the rescue vehicle arrived from Epping Fire Station,” Smith said.
“Firefighters also assisted the mom and baby from the roof.”
The mother and newborn baby were transported to hospital at 5.50am.
It’s not the first time members of this fire crew have gone beyond the call of duty to help a baby in need.
On 9 October, a two-week-old baby boy was brought to the fire station by his family, unresponsive and not breathing.
The crew members sprang into action and gave the baby cardiopulmonary resuscitation, after which he started breathing again.
Once stable, the child was transported to Tygerberg Hospital in Parow by ambulance.
At the time, Smith commended the crew for saving the child’s life.
“Our emergency services exist to ensure the safety and well-being of all our residents and it is heart-warming to know that the community can turn to our services when in need.”
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