Nixie's shaky start in life

Waiheke’s Matty and Jane Macdonald were excited about daughter Nixie’s arrival into the world. The young couple had opted for a home birth for their first born. Unfortunately, no one read the memo that Nixie was on “island time”. As the hours ticked by, time started to work against mother and daughter.

“Nixie and I were doing great at first,” Jane recalls, “She was two weeks overdue, but on her way. Early Sunday morning I experienced my first contraction and became fully dilated. As Sunday turned to Monday, I began the pushing stage but, despite my best efforts, and incredible support of Matty and my midwife, Nixie was quite happy to stay put!”

After several hours of pushing, Jane was able to encourage Nixie further down and a second midwife was called in.

“We were hopeful our little girl would be with us shortly and I remember Matty saying, “I can see her head” but Nixie wouldn’t budge!” Jane’s excitement turned to exhaustion. All she cared about now was ensuring Nixie was healthy and safe. The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter was called in to help. “I felt that, if we made it to the helicopter, then everything would be OK.”

Jane was flown to Auckland Hospital’s birthing unit in just 10 minutes from takeoff.

“When we were hooked up to the CTG monitor, we realised Nixie was showing signs of distress. Later, when we held our little girl, it really sunk in that without the help of the rescue helicopter service, things could have turned out quite differently. The level of appreciation that goes along with this realisation is difficult to put into words.”

The Macdonald family are doing well. “It’s amazing watching Nixie grow and develop each day. We feel like we’re the luckiest parents on earth.”