Most babies have their place of birth as either a hospital or home address, but little Oscar Errol Darr decided to be a little different and chose Clarence Town Road.
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The third child of Shane Darr and Fiona Walters was fashionably late by five days but made up time with his speedy delivery on the side of the road near the Dungog Road intersection last Saturday.
At 2pm Fiona was relaxing at home with partner Shane snoozing on the floor with their second son Charlie.
“I started having contractions and was timing them on my phone,” she said.
“They started to get a little bit closer so I decided to have a bath.
“Forty five minutes later Shane rang Maitland Hospital when they were around one to two minutes apart.
“The hospital said it was up to us and said I know my body better but to drive carefully when we decide to leave.
“Shane got up and had a shower and mum came around to look after Jacob and Charlie.
“Just before we left I said to Shane ‘I need to push’ but decided to get into the car and head to the hospital.”
But the couple only made it to Wirragulla when Shane rang 000 to tell them Fiona had to push and they stopped not far from the intersection.
“It only took Fiona three pushes and he was out,” Shane said.
“The cord was around his neck about three or four times but I could take it off easily.
“He didn’t cry but we could tell he was breathing and the lady on the phone told me to gently rub him on the back with a towel.
“A few minutes later he was okay.”
While Shane said it all happened very quickly, he didn’t really have time to think and just went into autopilot.
“Being a sports trainer and coach you never know what you will find when you run onto the field when someone is injured, so it was a bit like that.
“It was good to have the lady on the phone but I knew in my mind what had to be done.
“It was very hot on the side of the road but it wasn’t long after he was born when Dungog ambos Dave Corke and Paul Alexander turned up.”
The paramedics took Fiona onto Maitland Hospital where she and Oscar spent the night before returning to their Dungog home.
He officially weighed 8lb 3ozs or 3720 grams and was 51cm long.
“I should have known I would have a quick delivery as Jacob was 12 days early and I was only in labour for two hours and 47 minutes,” Fiona said.
“And Charlie was only one hour of established labour.
“But it was very different with Oscar, but he’s here safely and that’s all that matters.”