Praise for 999 call handler who saved Fife Airbnb baby

Fraser Clayton was born prematurely in a holiday cottage in the village of Ceres in Fife

The parents of a baby born prematurely in the bathroom of a Fife Airbnb have thanked the 999 call handler who helped save his life.

Mum Alex Clayton, from Yorkshire, was on a family holiday at the cottage in Ceres, Fife, last year when she went into labour early at 34 weeks.

Alex woke to find her waters had broken and the baby's head was stuck.

Husband Tony dialled 999 and Scottish Ambulance Service call handler Lorna Milward talked him through the birth.

When the baby, who they named Fraser, was delivered in the cottage bathroom he was unresponsive. But Lorna then guided Tony on how to resuscitate him.

An ambulance crew arrived and mum and baby were taken to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy. Baby Fraser was kept in intensive care for a week until he was well enough to go home.

Mum Alex with baby Fraser and Scottish Ambulance Service call handler Lorna Milward

Alex said: "It all happened so quickly, but I just remember how Lorna was so good at giving directions to us over the phone.

"If it wasn't for Lorna, I don't think Fraser would have made it."

Tony added: "When I realised what was happening I was terrified and felt utterly out of my depth.

"Lorna was the very opposite - cool, calm and collected. She was able to talk me through something which I would never have been able to do without her on the end of the phone."

Call handler Lorna, based at the Ambulance Control Centre in Inverness, received a commendation for her actions in June 2021.

Fraser was the first baby she helped to deliver.

Call handler Lorna hugs baby Fraser, alongside Alex, Tony and their older son Max.

She has been able to see him for the first time, when the family met to thank her at Edinburgh Ambulance Station.

Lorna said: "Alex did so well. It was the first time a call like this had come through for me, and when I realised it was a breech birth at home, that the baby was the wrong way round, I knew that it would be challenging.

"It was a traumatic, life-changing moment for both Alex and Tony, so I knew I had to keep them calm and deliver the instructions on what to do, until the paramedics arrived.

"Once you are finished with a call you go straight onto the next one, so it was amazing to find out what happened, and to meet Fraser. "