A British mum’s holiday turned into a nightmare when she gave birth prematurely in the garden of her hotel during Spain’s power outage chaos. The woman in her early 20s went to her hotel’s reception in the Costa del Sol after her waters broke at just 30 weeks.
The terrifying drama unfolded around 3am this morning at the four-star Puente Real hotel in Torremolinos. Hotel staff tried to call a taxi and 061, the number for the ambulance service in Spain, but it was too late and they ended up having to help the Brit give birth in the garden of the hotel. The receptionist even had to perform CPR on the newborn until the baby began to cough who initially showed signs of suffocation and had no pulse.
The unnamed tourist was then rushed to hospital by paramedics when the emergency services reached the hotel. The mother and her baby were taken to the nearby Hospital Materno Infantil.
Her baby is said to be in “critical condition”. She was 30 weeks pregnant when her waters broke – a full term is 40 weeks.
A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency services coordination centre confirmed the incident this morning.
In a statement they said: “A British woman gave birth to a premature baby near reception at the Puente Real hotel in Torremolinos during the early hours of this morning in the midst of the crisis caused by the blackout on the Spanish mainland.
“The receptionist of the establishment assisted her and even performed CPR on the newborn, who had no pulse. The events occurred around three in the morning.
“The young woman, in her twenties, who was staying at the hotel, showed up at the reception in the middle of labour, as her water had broken. The receptionist tried to call a taxi and notify the emergency services, but there wasn’t enough time.
“The woman gave birth in the garden at the entrance of the hotel. It was a premature birth, as the girl was in the 30th week of gestation. The baby showed signs of asphyxia and had gone purple so the receptionist, following instructions from medical experts over the phone, performed CPR manoeuvers until it started to cough.
“The paramedics after they arrived were escorted by the National Police to the Materno Infantil Hospital in Malaga, where the newborn was admitted in critical condition, although with a pulse.”
The whole of Spain, as well as parts of Portugal and France were affected by a massive power outage on Monday, April 28. Key cities including Madrid, Seville and Lisbon.
Parts of Madrid underground were evacuated and traffic lights in the city failed to work according to local media. In Valencia, the metro announced at the time that it had suspended service across the entire network.
Although Spain’s national grid operator ruled out a cyberattack, the High Court has opened a preliminary investigation into whether it could be classified as one, which would be considered as an act of terrorism. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has admitted that the exact cause is still unknown though he ruled out that of excess renewable energy.