A Romanian woman who was snowed in and unable to get to hospital has given birth aided by a doctor who told a neighbor what to do via WhatsApp video.
An ambulance couldn’t reach the 41-year-old woman from the village of Crasnaleuca in northern county of Botosani who went into labor early Thursday during a blizzard.
The snow was so deep that even the local medical team couldn’t reach the mother of three.
A doctor later identified as Eduard Gurau, the medic for Botosani football club, talked the woman’s neighbor through the birth and post-natal procedure via a video link.
‘Wrap the child up, otherwise it’ll get hypothermia. Make sure its nose and mouth are clear. …. Ask the mother where she has some strong thread so we can cut the umbilical cord,” Gurau can be heard saying.
“We have time, half an hour. Make sure the baby is all wrapped up. Go and get thread and scissors, but make sure the baby doesn’t fall off the bed.”
“Make sure the phone is on the baby so I can see it,” he insists.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” the doctor asks later. “I didn’t look, I was too frightened,” a woman replies before revealing the newborn is a girl.
He then asks the woman to show him the thread to make sure it’s thick enough, and asks her to cut two pieces and tie then tightly them around the umbilical cord. “Make three knots and make sure they are tight,” he says guiding the frightened woman through the procedure. She didn’t find any scissors so the doctors tells her to use a knife and disinfectant.
They were later transported to hospital. Mother and baby are doing well.
„Eduard showed that when there’s a desire to help, distance, terrible weather conditions and other obstacles don’t count. We thank him and congratulate him, the Botosani club said in a statement.
