'Infection' mum in birth surprise

Lorraine Tinney • Published 26 Aug 2010 14:00

A GREENOCK mum-to-be went to hospital fearing she had a urine infection - only to gave birth just hours later.

Stunned Maria Reay, 38, was expecting a prescription for antibiotics, but was instead told she was in labour.

And she received the best medicine she could have hoped for - her beautiful son Rylee, who arrived three weeks earlier than expected.

Maria, of Tasker Street, made the frantic dash from her home to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley after calling staff to report her symptoms.

She said: “My uncle drove me up at around 5am. The doctor said I could be in labour because I was seven centimetres dilated.

“I didn’t even know what that meant and they told me I was going to have a baby that day. I just started crying. I said ‘I’m going to be a mummy’. It was very emotional.”

Little Rylee came into the world at 10.50am on 2 August weighing 5lbs 6oz - and the whole family was instantly smitten.

Proud grandmother Catherine was on hand at the birth and cut Rylee’s umbilical cord. The delighted 61-year-old said: “I just fell in love with him the minute his wee head came out.”

Maria, a support worker for people with learning disabilities, is splitting her time between her own home and her parents’ house in Rose Street, where her dad George is also besotted with the new arrival.

Rylee had to spend a short spell in the special care baby unit following his birth because initially he wouldn’t feed, but his appetite has picked up and he is now a healthy eater.

Maria quipped: “This will be a wee story to tell him when he’s older.”

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 26 Aug 10

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