Portland woman gives birth on the side of the road

While a previous complicated pregnancy meant Jessa Laws had intended to deliver at Warrnambool Base Hospital, baby Astrid came so fast she would have gone to Portland but was left with no choice but to face the 100-kilometre drive.

Paramedics rushed to Port Fairy just after 5am to help with the two-hour roadside labour.

While she's relieved her newborn is safe and healthy, Ms Laws is angry she was put in the high-risk situation.

Her back-up plan of delivering at Portland wasn't an option after birthing services were put on hold at Portland District Health due to a midwife shortage.

Ms Laws and her daughter Astrid Joan Laws are receiving care at Warrnambool's maternity unit.

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She'd been dreading this scenario due to a history of complications with her other two deliveries. She and her husband Ben had an emergency bag packed ahead of time in case they had to deliver on the side of the road.

"We got to Yambuk and I managed to ask Ben to call the ambulance that I wasn't going to make it," she said.

"By this stage she was starting to crown and I had my hand down pushing her back in to slow things up.

"We pulled into the car park next to St Patrick's in Port Fairy, and the paramedics were not far behind.

"Once I knew the paramedics were there I stopped pushing her head back in, two contractions and she was born in the front seat of my husband's car."

Ms Laws had already planned for the birth to happen in Warrnambool due to previous complications because base hospital had a wider range of maternity services.

But the Portland hospital was her local back-up option if she went into labour quickly.

"I'm exhausted, the adrenaline kicked in obviously as it does but afterwards I went into shock a bit and was incredibly cold and shaky," she said.

"I'm incredibly relieved that it had a happy ending in that we are all OK, but no one should have to risk their safety doing crazy dashes along the Princes Highway over 100 kilometres when we have an amazing hospital and staff base literally minutes away.

"If Portland had been available we would have gone straight there."

She said it was history repeating itself after the birth of her second child in 2012.

"Because Portland were not delivering babies we had to do the crazy drive over there (to Warrnambool)," she said.

"The roads are horrific and dangerous, especially when trying to get to hospital before the baby arrived.

"I was well aware that this time I may not even have three hours from start to finish."

The other alternative to deliver at home and phone an ambulance was just as fraught due to the limited phone reception at their home just 10 minutes out of Portland.

"That also ran the risk of my husband having to leave me alone to drive to a location with phone reception," she said.

Other Portland mothers expressed fears of giving birth on the side of the road while others reported stress and cost blowouts having to travel to Warrnambool for care.

The suspension of birthing services has resulted in the resignation of Portland's head midwife, and saw the midwifery staff write a letter to the board expressing support for the obstetrician.

Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell said it never should have happened.

"Thankfully both Jessa and Astrid are fine and well and I congratulate their whole family on the new arrival," Ms Britnell said.

"But this is the very situation we were fearing would happen when the decision was made to suspend the birthing service at Portland District Health.

"This situation should never have happened and the Victorian Government and PDH board must act now to ensure it doesn't happen again. The birthing service needs to reopen now, not in three months.

"PDH board chairman Peter Matthews and the Minister for Health have both said birthing services were suspended due to safety concerns.

"But where are the safety concerns for expectant mothers like Jessa? We just cannot tolerate a situation where we have mothers giving birth on the side of a road."

PDH has been contacted by The Standard for comment.

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