Cape Town - A baby born on the pavement in Grassy Park is growing stronger each day, thanks to the residents who helped homeless mother, Lauren Lessule, 51, deliver her bundle of joy.
Lessule went into labour at seven and a half months along Victoria Road, near Grassy Park High School, last Wednesday. Lessule said she was on her way to her friend’s house when she went into labour.
“I am excited about the baby because it was my dream to have a boy.
“I did not realise that I was going into labour until the pain got stronger.
“I could not wait to hold my son in my arms. He is healthy but just small.”
Lessule has since moved in with her father in Seawinds.
She also has an 8-year-old daughter who lives with her mother.
“I have been living on the streets since I was very young. I want to make a positive change for my children because I don’t want to come to the street again,” she said.
Baby Abdul Rahim Lessule’s father is also homeless.
Resident Micky Hendricks said she and her husband Raees were driving home after doing deliveries when they saw Lessule in active labour.
Hendricks, who is eight months pregnant herself, said Lessule is wellknown in the area as she always sits by Spar where people would buy her bread.
“Our paths first crossed one day when I was on my way to my motherin-law’s house and she said she will walk me halfway and we spoke about our pregnancies.
“On the night we first drove past her because it was extremely dark but we turned around and found her laying with her legs spread open and up and she was screaming,” said Hendricks.
“I did a 30-week prenatal and antenatal course so I started helping her through the process, telling her to push and people started coming to help. The baby came after two pushes with the cord around his neck. He was blue but we managed to remove the cord and then he started crying.”
Hendricks said she had her 2-yearold’s nasal aspirator in the car and managed to get the mucus out of the baby’s nose. She said they spent about four hours trying to contact medical services, who only then arrived.
She contacted her doula (non-medical partner who can help support you before, during and after childbirth), Tarryn Winkworth, who arrived to assist with cutting the cord after arriving from another family birth.
The City’s Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson, Jermaine Carelse, said: “The baby boy was born prior to the arrival of the Fire and Rescue Services’s Emergency Care Practitioner. They found the mother and baby at a house opposite the school. The mother’s condition was classified colour code yellow.”
Hendricks is appealing for any assistance towards baby essentials to contact 081 767 1764/ 067 675 9151.
Cape Argus