Parents recall moment the lights went out at ERI birthing unit

A DAD today described the moment he was forced to use a torch “app” on his mobile phone to desperately search for his newborn son in a hospital birthing pool after the lights failed.

Callum Livie, 26, told the Evening News how he would have been “snookered” without his iPhone as his partner Samantha Preedy gave birth in “complete darkness” at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and shouted: “I’ve dropped him, he’s in the pool and you need to find him.”

The Evening News first revealed yesterday how hospital operator Consort is set to be fined around £100,000 over the power outage on December 8, when back-up generators at the ERI also failed.

Today, Mr Livie, from Bonnyrigg, said he was just relieved little Braedan was none the worse for his dramatic entrance into the world.

“I came in and couldn’t see anything. I could just hear Sam saying he’s in here somewhere.

“I pulled my phone out and I could see where he was, and shouted to the midwives to grab him. It was a bit of a shock.

“He might have been under for a minute or two, it all happened so fast. Nobody could believe how it happened, but I’m just over the moon that the wee man made it OK.

“I’d used the app a few times when I’m trying to find stuff in my van, but I never thought I’d have to use it to help deliver my own son. I really would have been snookered without it.”

When the lights failed, the midwife with Ms Preedy, 28, left the room to find out what was happening. Then, as Braedan’s head appeared, Mr Livie ran out to find help.

In the end, Ms Preedy gave birth in the dark and alone but still had the presence of mind to unwrap the umbilical cord from Braedan’s neck while shouting for help.

The newborn then went under the water and was nowhere to be seen, forcing self-employed tradesman Mr Livie to use his iPhone to light the pool while midwives searched for him and eventually pulled him to the surface.Ms Preedy, now a mum of five, said: “It’s lucky I’m not a first-time mum or it would have been completely different. I’ve had four other babies and so I knew what to do.”

“The midwives were more shocked than I was. I got the cord unwrapped from around his neck, but the force of him coming out, I lost him in the pool.

“Callum came in and I shouted ‘I’ve dropped him, he’s in the pool and you need to find him’. Let’s just say he’s really glad he downloaded that torch for his iPhone.”

As the Evening News revealed yesterday, the main power system went down due to a supply fault caused by the high winds. Emergency batteries kept intensive care, surgical theatres and A&E in operation, but the rest of the hospital, including the new birthing unit, was without power for 11 minutes. Luckily, Braedan faced no complications and was able to return home three hours later and meet his brothers and sisters, Aaron, three, T-Jay, five, Alisha, seven and Teegan, eight.

Ms Preedy said her mum and dad, Christine and Gordon Bourhill, could not believe what happened to their grandson but were delighted at the result.

She said: “My mum couldn’t believe it, it was so dramatic. It’s Braedan’s own wee story.”

Ms Preedy, who had her four other children with her previous husband, said she does not blame hospital staff but the private firm which is responsible for the running of the hospital.

She added: “We were told about the generators, how they should have kicked in when the power went off.”

Consort, which is paid nearly £60 million to operate the ERI, yesterday cited a minor delay in getting generator supplies to many areas of the hospital after the main supply went down.