Postman delivers son at home

A Moynalty postman made a very special delivery last week when his son made a rapid and unexpected entry into the world. It was a case of 'express male' when John McKenna delivered his own son in their home in Ballintlieve, Moynalty, in the early hours of last Thursday morning. His wife, Teresa, and son, Oran, were both healthy following the birth and were both taken to Cavan General Hospital for check-ups but came home the next day. John, who is based at Kells Post Office, explained that he woke up in the early hours of Thursday morning to find Teresa sitting up in bed. "She knew it had started but as her previous labour had been over 12 hours, we weren't in any panic and we decided to get ready for the trip to Cavan," he recalled. "All of a sudden, her waters broke and we rang for an ambulance because we knew we wouldn't make it," John added. It was just a rapid 12 minutes from the time Teresa's waters broke until Oran was born at 2.53am, weighing in at a healthy 6lbs 12oz. The couple, who have one other chuild, 19 months-old Carleen, were stunned by the speed of the delivery. "It all happened so quick. Teresa's mother, Betty Farrelly, was here, too, and we couldn't believe how quick it was," John added. Little Oran was due two days earlier and the couple were expecting his imminent arrival, but not quite as swiftly as it happened. "When her waters broke, everything started to get very fast, so we rang the ambulance and Teresa got back on the bed. "All hell broke loose then and, suddenly, there was the head. Betty and I just looked at the head and each other and couldn't believe what we were seeing," he said. Oran's head just slipped out into John's hands to everyone's amazement." There was no stopping him. He was on his way out and that was it, he just came out," his proud dad added. The delivery was very straightforward, with no worries about the cord or other complications. "It was a perfect birth. He slipped right into my hands, he gave a couple of cries and I handed him to his mother," said John. The ambulance arrived shortly afterwards and brought mother and baby to Cavan Hospital, where they were checked over and given a clean bill of health. They returned home to Moynalty on Friday evening. John says he hadn't time to panic when he realised the baby was going to be born at home and he was going to have to help deliver it. "We didn't panic. We hadn't time to worry. He was making his way out and we just had to get on with it," he said. "Even after the birth, I was quite relaxed and Teresa was fine afterwards. It is amazing how well she handled it." Despite all the excitement and drama in her home, little Carleen was unaware of anything that was happening. "She slept right through and didn't realise she had a little brother until the following day," John said. Carleen then joined in the celebrations in the very happy McKenna household over the weekend.