Anxious first-time mum’s waters semi-break three months early

A Devon couple expecting their first baby are gearing up for Christmas in Derriford Hospital’s maternity ward after mum Natalie’s waters ‘semi’ broke three months early.

Miss Hull took a funny turn before realising her unborn child was gearing up for his arrival way earlier than expected.

The 35-year-old admin worker was rushed by her sister to Wonford’s Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital – whilst partner John Salton was out on the postal round for Royal Mail.

The couple were then sent down to Derriford in Plymouth for more specialist supervision – and are staying put until it’s known whether Natalie will give birth or if it’s all a false alarm.

Natalie and John would love to be back home by Monday so they can spend Christmas with loved ones before their little sunshine arrives.

But they’re not ruling out a Christmas Day at Derriford – and little ‘Pip’ could be making his big debut come December 25.

The couple say the name reflects the fact their unborn bundle of joy is so tiny for now – and they’ll settle upon a permanent one once he’s out.

Explaining how her drama unfolded, brave Natalie said: “I got up as usual but something didn’t feel right, it felt like I was leaking. So my sister took me up to the hospital and that’s when we realised my waters had semi broke.”

The couple spoke to Plymouth Live about their predicament on the maternity ward – on a day reporters were taken on a tour after CQC inspectors shed light on positive improvements the department had made.

It’s now been ranked as good overall and had an outstanding rating for the way it cares for patients.

It’s also now the only maternity ward in the Devon and Cornwall peninsula to have a good safety ranking.

“The support we’ve received has been excellent, 10 out of 10 – really amazing,” proud John said.

“Everyone is just lovely and giving us everything we need. You have any questions and they get answered.”

Natalie said she and John are keeping things together – and it’s all just a guessing game for now.

Specialists drop by every four hours to perform checks on both mum and baby.

The couple have also been down to the neo-natal unit in the event things ramp up in the days or weeks to come.

“We love Christmas, but it doesn’t seem to matter so much this year – our biggest priority will be making sure he (our baby boy) and Natalie are both okay and doing well,” John said.

“We’ll make it up on Christmas next year.”

The couple say they’re a little unprepared house-wise for the arrival of Pip – the spare room still needs re-decorating.

“We just assumed everything would go to plan – but life just happens, and you make do,” Natalie said.

“You adapt and work everything out.”

John also thanked family and friends for their amazing support as the couple take things one day at a time.

And John said he intends to write a memoir of his experiences with the NHS.

“People shouldn’t take take it granted for a second,” he said. “What would we do without it?”

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