In the spring of 2024, Meghan Watts was expecting her second child with her husband, Jason Kay. The family were all excited and eagerly awaiting the arrival of their newest member. What the family was not expecting was that their newest addition would be delivered while in the air, in the back of an Ornge helicopter. 

Meghan was 33 weeks pregnant and had some challenges along the way. She had also had complications with previous pregnancies as well, but at her regular appointments, the nurse practitioner assured her that things were progressing normally and that she was in the final stretch. However, one evening while in bed, Meghan woke up to a gush of fluid and her bed was soaked with liquid. 

“It was 4:30 in the morning, and I woke up, and my bed was soaked. I was like ‘I’m only 33 weeks pregnant, obviously I peed the bed’,” said Meghan. “I woke up a few hours later and started getting light cramping, and I kind of brushed those off for a little bit, and then it kind of started to get worse.”  

Meghan’s husband was at his college class, so she called her mother and the two of them went to the Deep River & District Health centre. At the hospital, Meghan’s condition had worsened, and she began to feel contractions. The attending clinicians discovered her membrane had ruptured, and she lost about 80 per cent of her amniotic fluid. They confirmed she was in labour and administered medication to slow the process.

“Deep River has no maternity anything, so they’re not equipped to deal with this. And they’re like ‘Pembroke won’t take you because they won’t take anybody earlier than 36 weeks because there’s no NICU, there’s nothing for anything like that there’,” said Meghan. “So, the plan was to send me to the Civic [Hospital] in Ottawa.”  

The attending physicians requested an Ornge transport. The plan was to transfer Meghan to Ottawa Civic and her baby to CHEO, as they have the necessary NICU department that her baby would need. The Ornge crew arrived by helicopter and began to prep Meghan for the flight. However, as the transport crew were completing their procedures, Meghan felt her contractions intensifying. They were happening close together every few minutes. 

“But by the time they got me on to the stretcher and were bringing me out to the helicopter, the contractions started getting really close together and really intense,” said Meghan. “I remember looking out the window of the helicopter and looking at the nuclear plant as we flew by.”

Seven minutes into her transport, Meghan recalls “feeling the need to poop” which she knew could only be one thing. Her baby was coming right now. Realizing the situation, the paramedics attempted to get Meghan to hold on as they redirected the flight to Pembroke Regional Hospital. However, Meghan felt the pressure grow increasingly intense, and she delivered baby Abel in the back of the Ornge helicopter with the assistance of Ornge paramedics Cory Van Delst and Lorri Cadeau. 

“It was maybe 30 seconds from the time that [Cory] told them to redirect to Renfrew. I’m like, I can’t do it; the baby is coming there’s no stopping it. He’s coming, and that’s what’s happening’. He came out butt first, so his head was stuck, I think [Cory] said, for probably close to two minutes between his bum coming out and being able to get his head out. He was about three pounds; they gave me his weight in grams. He was so tiny. I just remember the whole time Lorri, she was up by my head trying to keep me calm while she’s trying to dig around to find an oxygen mask that is remotely small enough for this little baby’s head.”

The transport crew placed Meghan’s baby on her chest and landed shortly after at Pembroke Regional Hospital. The pair were separated upon arriving at the hospital. Meghan saw Abel just before she went into surgery for a D&C, a dilation and curettage procedure, to deliver her placenta. Luckily, the CHEO NICU team was already at the hospital, and they assisted in transporting baby Abel.

“I vaguely remember them wheeling me past him, still outside, just by the helicopter in this little incubator bassinet type thing. Thankfully, Cory and Lorri were still with me and distracting me because I was unaware that they were resuscitating my baby at that point,” said Meghan. “Thankfully, the CHEO NICU transport team was already at Pembroke. There was another baby that they had to pick up. So, they were able to take him down to Ottawa that night. And I followed the following day.” 
 
A day after her surgery, Meghan made the trip to CHEO to be with their baby in the NICU.  Abel was in the hospital for two months. The first two weeks were spent in the CHEO NICU. The hospital staff attempted to bring Abel to the special nursery at the Queensway-Carlton Hospital, however, his oxygen levels dropped too low and Abel needed to be resuscitated again. The decision was then made to bring him back to the CHEO NICU. 

“We spent about two weeks in the CHEO NICU, and he was slowly getting better. He reached a point that they felt he didn’t need that stage three NICU anymore, so we were transferred to the special nursery at the Queensway-Carlton [Hospital], where we spent over a month,” said Meghan. “His oxygen levels kept dropping, his heart rate would drop. At one point, we tried breastfeeding, and he aspirated. After that, they couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t improving, so they sent us back to the CHEO NICU, where he spent another week.”

Abel was eventually able to be transferred to a regular unit at CHEO once clinical staff confirmed he no longer required the incubator. Meghan was finally sent home after two months with her new baby on oxygen. Without the kindness and compassion of the Ornge crew that day, Meghan says her birthing experience could have ended very differently. 

“I don’t think either of them thought they would deliver a baby when they went to work that morning. When they came into the Deep River Hospital, they were just the friendliest people ever,” said Meghan. “For as traumatic as that situation was and everything, they were just so calming and caring. I don’t think I stressed out as much about it or freaked out as much about it as I would have any other way. And you know [they] did safely bring my baby into the world, that’s up there too,” said Meghan. 

Abel is now a happy and healthy 18-month-old, is in the 96th percentile for weight and is progressing well. He is affectionately referred to by his nickname “Chopper” when he goes in for doctor appointments. Meghan and the whole family are enjoying life with their newest family member. 

“Looking at him now, you would have never known he was born as early as he was. He takes after his father, like he’s an absolute tank. You wouldn’t know he came into the world the way he did,” said Meghan.

We acknowledge the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in Meghan’s birth experience and highlight the patient-centred decision-making that was made at every level to ensure the safety of Meghan and her baby. We especially highlight Cory and Lorri for their successful work during the delivery and for going above and beyond to show Meghan kindness and compassion. 

“Ornge as a whole, especially where I live out in Deep River, without your organization and what you do, he definitely wouldn’t be here today. There’s just really no words for how grateful I am for your entire organization,” said Meghan.

She went on to say, 

“To the transport crew especially, I truly believe that they are the reason that my son is alive today. He’s the greatest little thing, and they were so great at making sure that, as safely as he was able to come into the world, that he did. I don’t remember the doctor’s name that I saw in Pembroke, I don’t remember the nurses’ names that I saw in Pembroke, but I don’t think I will ever forget Cory and Lorri’s names and faces.”

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• Patients and Families