Snowkissed!: The Midwife's Marriage Proposal. Fiona Harper

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СКАЧАТЬ another pain coming … Oh! I want to push—I can feel it.’

      Even Tom looked startled by her terrified announcement and Sally found herself struggling not to smile, despite the potential seriousness of the situation. She’d never seen Tom out of his depth before, but at the moment he looked seriously disconcerted.

      ‘I think you’d better unpack some of that equipment you brought, Tom,’ she suggested calmly. ‘It looks as though we’re going to need it.’

      Sally waited until the contraction had passed and then gently released Lucy’s hand so that she could assess the progress of her labour more accurately. ‘All right, I’m going to unzip your coat and see what’s going on.’

      Tom had moved to one side and was using the radio, presumably to talk to Sean at the mountain rescue base.

      Sally concentrated on the labouring woman. Because there was no doubt in her mind that the woman was about to deliver. She didn’t even need to pull on a pair of gloves and examine her. As Lucy was gripped by another powerful contraction, Sally clearly saw the top of the baby’s head.

      For a moment she felt a shaft of panic and then she reminded herself that there was no reason why a healthy woman couldn’t deliver perfectly well outdoors. She had to forget about all the potential complications and concentrate on the job in hand. Their biggest problem was just the cold.

      ‘Your baby is definitely coming, Lucy,’ she said calmly, wishing Tom would get off the radio and help. Deciding that she’d better get on with it on her own, she delved into the rucksack and removed various packs. ‘Mick, can you get a tent up, please? Something to keep the wind off. Check in Tom’s rucksack.’

      Creating a shelter wouldn’t help that much, but at least it would be better than nothing.

      Tom finished talking on the radio and strode back to her. ‘They’re sending a helicopter.’

      Sally looked at him. ‘You can’t deliver a baby in a helicopter,’ she pointed out logically, and he ran a hand over the back of his neck.

      ‘She’s that close? Seriously?’

      ‘I can see the head.’ Sally looked at him, wondering what was the matter with him. ‘I need a tent, Tom. Now. It’s not much in the way of shelter, but it will help.’

      Tom seemed to stir himself. ‘Right. A tent. Mick, I need a hand.’

      Sally left the two of them to sort out some shelter and turned her attention back to Lucy.

      ‘Don’t you worry about a thing,’ she said cheerfully. ‘We girls are going to manage this with no problem.’

      Lucy gave a hysterical laugh and caught Sally’s hand again. ‘Would you believe that I actually dismissed the idea of a home birth because they convinced me it was dangerous for my first baby? And here I am on the side of a mountain! I can’t believe this is happening!’

      ‘Well, look on the bright side, at least you didn’t climb up the mountain,’ Sally said practically. ‘And home birth is not dangerous in the right circumstances. Everything seems fine to me. The only thing we really need to worry about is the cold.’

      ‘Have you delivered babies at home before?’

      ‘I worked in Nepal for a while,’ Sally told her chattily, happy to distract her. ‘Hardly any of the women there make it to health centres of any sort, and plenty of other cultures think that home is the place to give birth. I once looked after a woman who insisted on giving birth in her garden, surrounded by candles.’

      Lucy gave a hysterical laugh. ‘But none of them chose to deliver in a howling gale on a mountainside.’

      ‘You’ve certainly picked the best view,’ Sally agreed with a laugh, grabbing the Pinard stethoscope from the rucksack and pressing it against Lucy’s abdomen. ‘This might be asking a bit much, but I want to try and listen to the baby’s heart.’

      For a few moments all she could hear was the wind and Lucy’s gasps, and then she shifted the stethoscope slightly and there it was. The wonderfully reassuring gallop of the baby’s heart.

      ‘That’s fine, Lucy.’ She straightened. ‘He or she seems to be perfectly happy. Obviously enjoying being outdoors.’

      By now Lucy was inside the tent and she and Tom had manoeuvred a sterile sheet underneath her.

      Lucy gave a low moan. ‘I’m so scared. This isn’t how it should be …’

      ‘There’s nothing to be scared of,’ Sally said immediately. ‘You’re doing beautifully. Are you warm enough?’

      Lucy nodded. ‘I am, but what about the baby?’

      ‘Well, at the moment he’s still inside you so he’s fine,’ Sally said. ‘We’ll worry about his temperature once he’s safely out.’

      ‘You keep calling the baby he,’ Lucy gasped, and Sally smiled, aware of Tom by her side.

      ‘It’s a boy. Definitely.’ Her tone was dry. ‘Only a man could cause this much trouble.’

      Despite the tension of the situation, Lucy giggled. Tom picked up the banter. ‘You’re going to find out just what trouble is when this is over, Sally Jenner,’ he threatened, his blue eyes gleaming as they locked on hers.

      But despite his mockery and the kick of her heart, Sally couldn’t be anything but glad that he was there.

      She knew that if Lucy got into trouble, she was going to need him.

      Lucy chuckled and then groaned. ‘Don’t make me laugh—it hurts. How can you be so relaxed?’

      ‘Because there is absolutely nothing to be tense about,’ Sally replied immediately. ‘Childbirth is perfectly natural.’

      Lucy grimaced. ‘Until something goes wrong.’

      ‘That’s my line,’ Tom muttered. He glanced at Sally and she rolled her eyes.

      ‘Don’t get all pessimistic on me, please, or I’ll send the pair of you home and do this by myself.’ She opened another pack and looked at Tom again. ‘Could you draw up some Syntometrine? If you and Lucy are just going to sit there, panicking, I’ll have to give the orders.’

      He lifted a hand to show her that he’d already done it and it occurred to her that, despite everything that had happened, they were still a good team.

      Lucy gave a gasp and shifted onto all fours. ‘It’s coming … I can feel it …’

      Sally snapped on a new pair of gloves and glanced over her shoulder at Tom. ‘We’re going to need all the layers you can find, and I want a space blanket, too. OK, Lucy, the head is crowning. I want you to stop pushing if you can. That’s it, good girl. Pant now, pant—that’s it. Great.’

      She used her left hand to control the escape of the head and reduce the chances of perineal tearing. As the baby’s head was delivered she allowed it to extend and quickly checked that the cord wasn’t around its neck.

      ‘Fantastic, Lucy,’ she said, glancing СКАЧАТЬ