Droylsden dad hailed hero for resuscitating baby born in bath

A new mum has hailed her fiancé a hero after he delivered their daughter in the bath, and saved the baby's life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Shelby Lomax, from Droylsden, was surprised by Casaiya's sudden arrival on Saturday after 90 minutes of labour.

Dad Reece Burns took instructions from a 999 operator on delivering the 9lb 3oz baby, who was not breathing.

Ms Lomax said: "I'm so proud of him and incredibly grateful that he was what we needed him to be at that moment."

She said she was astonished when her labour progressed so rapidly after mild pains began on Saturday morning.

"I'd been in labour for seven hours with my son, so I thought I had ages," she said.

"I went upstairs to have a bath to help with the pain and my waters broke."

Casaiya arrived just 12 minutes later, guided into the world by Mr Burns.

"I would've been lost without the 999 operator telling me what to do," he said.

"But it was surprisingly easy to follow the instructions, they were very clear."

Once he had delivered her, Mr Burns realised his daughter was an unhealthy colour and asked the operator's advice.

He gave the baby mouth-to-mouth and she began to breathe weakly.

Paramedics arrived and Casaiya was rushed to hospital, where she remained in intensive care for three days.

"I don't think I was feeling anything while it was happening," said Mr Burns.

"At that point, it was just purely logical - how do I fix this? What's the quickest, most efficient solution?"

Both mum and baby were discharged on Monday, and Casaiya is thriving at home.

"We call her a little hurricane," said Ms Lomax.

"When she was in my stomach she thrashed about like a little hurricane, she came out like a hurricane, and now she thrashes about whenever she wants something."

Ms Lomax added: "Our family's complete now with our little girl as well as our two older boys.

"She's home now and she's perfect. You'd never know she'd been poorly."

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