Off-duty midwife in Valencia bar helps customer give birth

A WOMAN gave birth in the middle of a crowded bar in Valencia on Friday – with the help of an off-duty midwife who just happened to be having a drink there.

Emergency services said the new mum, 28, was in a café in the Cánovas neighbourhood when, at exactly 21.40, her waters broke.

It took just 16 minutes for the baby to fully emerge, meaning by the time the ambulance arrived, she was already holding the newborn.

And she turned out to have chosen the right bar for a drink that evening, since one of the other customers was a midwife.

As well as ringing emergency services, the mother had called a friend who is a doctor by profession and lived nearby.

She had managed to make it to her car parked just outside by then, and finished giving birth on the back seat.

Local Police got there just at the end, before the ambulance, and were seen putting on surgical gloves to help in the process.

Officers also asked the bar staff for towels to wrap the baby in.

Once paramedics arrived, all they had to do was cut the umbilical cord and take the mother and infant to the city's La Fe Hospital, where both are said to be doing well.

In Spain, if emergency services are called, the Local Police are automatically deployed at the same time, whatever the circumstances.

Given that they are likely to be first on the scene – as every town and village has a Local Police force – officers can start emergency work such as first aid, firefighting, or general rescue efforts, before the ambulance or fire engine arrives.

In the case of performing CPR or using their in-car defibrillators, police presence can literally be life-saving if an ambulance is held up.