When Newcastle Easter Fair event manager Peta Smith turned up for work on Monday, she was not expecting to be on hand to deliver a premature baby.
“I was in the site office when I got a call saying there was a woman in labour under the Ferris wheel,” Peta told the Newcastle Weekly.
“I went down expecting we’d guide her to the front gate for the ambulance, but before I could even finish speaking, I saw a tiny hand and just instinctively caught the baby.
“In all my 18 years working in events, I had never experienced anything like this before!”
Peta, a mother of four and first-aid trained, immediately realised the newborn baby boy was very premature and not breathing.
“He fit in the palms of my hands.
“I rubbed his back as I’ve seen midwives do, but nothing was working. I started CPR straight away.”
With the guidance of triple-zero operators, Peta kept the newborn breathing until paramedics arrived.
“I was doing five breaths to two compressions as I had been taught in first aid training and I was using just two fingers as his chest was so small.
“He started breathing, then stopped again, and I just kept going.”
Thanks to her quick response and calm response under pressure, the baby continued to breathe and was taken to hospital, where she has been told by the new dad that he is doing well.
“They gave him steroids to clear his lungs of fluid, he was just not quite ready for the world,” she said.
“But he’s a little fighter. Perhaps he came along early as he didn’t want to miss the fun of Easter fair?”
The family has chosen to remain private, but Peta has kept in touch and even helped gather supplies for the first-time parents.
“They hadn’t had time to prepare for the birth and didn’t even have a onesie,” she said.
“It was a whilrwind of emotion for me, I cannot imagine what it was like for them. It kept me up all night thinking about it.”
While the experience was intense, Peta believes she was meant to be there.
“My 15 month old daughter has lung disease.
“I’ve had to resuscitate her three time and that experience helped me stay calm.
“Everything happens for a reason.”
The Easter Fair welcomed nearly 15,000 attendees in its first year in Newcastle.
“It was a huge success,” said Peta.
“We’re here to stay.”
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