Ash Willow Kelly was born in Toowoomba Hospital, Queensland, Australia on Sunday December 4th 2005 at 9:25pm AEST. She weighed 2710 grams (5lb 15oz) and was 49cm long.


At 3:00pm on Friday December 2nd, Ash's mum Emma and dad Richard were shopping in Toowoomba. It was the day before Emma's mum Linda's wedding. After leaving one of the shops, Emma's waters unexpectedly broke. She went to the hospital and was told she would be having the baby soon. She was not due until December 28th. The next day (Saturday December 3rd) Emma was given penicilin injections at 9:00am, 1:00pm and 5:00pm (and attended her mum's wedding at 2:00pm). The penicilin was to prevent infection. At 5:00pm, she was admitted to the hospital. On Sunday December 4th at 8:30am, she was connected to an intravenous drip containing oxytocin to induce labour. The dosage was slowly increased from the minimum to the maximum over the next 6 hours with no result. An internal examination revealed that the amniotic sac had ruptured from behind, meaning the sac was still blocking the birth canal. The sac was manually ruptured and labour began at 4:00pm. After an hour and a half, Emma required a pethadine injection for the pain in her back, and continued to use nitrous oxide to take the edge off the pain of the contractions.


Emma had dilated to 8cm within two hours of the onset of labour. By 8:30pm she was fully dilated but the baby's head had not sufficiently moved down the birth canal. An ultrasound scan revealed the positioning of the baby was very unusual, with her spine running at a 30 degree angle to the birth canal. A decision was made to use the vacuum to assist the birth. The doctor placed the suction cap on the baby's head and pulled. The head would not come clear and an episiotomy was required. At 9:25, the doctor pulled the baby clear. She was flatlined. Her face was blue and there was no sign of life. Another doctor quickly cut the cord and took her to the recovery table and worked furiously to bring her back. He sucked the fluid from her lungs and injected her with drugs to counteract the pethadine that may be in her system. She finally coughed and began to cry. Her head was pulled significantly out of shape by the vacuum and she must have had one hell of a headache.

She was briefly placed on Emma's chest for her first cuddle before being taken to the special care unit. There was still a high risk of further complications so she was placed in a humidicrib and connected to a drip. Emma was given stitches and an injection to help expel the placenta. However, it had not separated from the uterus wall at all. After more than an hour of trying, the umbilical cord snapped and it was decided she would need to go into surgery to have the placenta removed. She was given a spinal and by 1:30am was in recovery after having the placenta removed. She remained on the drip of syntocinon to ensure the uterus was fully contracted to prevent bleeding.


The next day, the new mum and dad visited the baby in special care and decided to name her Ash Willow Kelly. Emma was visited by her family, many of whom were in Toowoomba because of the wedding the day before. Emma expressed breast milk which was fed to Ash through a tube in her nose.

Ash was able to be breastfed on Tuesday morning, but had to be returned to the humidicrid immediately afterwards. She can hopefully be transferred to Stanthorpe Hospital on Wednesday and come home a day or two after that.