A HEROIC receptionist who saved a young Brit mum’s newborn after she gave birth during the historic Spanish blackout has told his “incredible” experience.
Hotel worker Arturo Bermudez came to the holidaymaker’s rescue during her premature delivery at the Puente Real Hotel in Torremolinos.
9
9
9
The newborn was in a critical condition on Tuesday morning after suffering complications in the dead of night during the devastating blackouts.
But in their latest update, police said the tot was in a “stable” condition after being rushed to the Materno Infantil Hospital in Malaga.
Receptionist Bermudez, 40, told how he caught the baby after it “dropped out” of its mum’s womb before performing life-saving CPR.
The drama unfolded at around 3am on Tuesday morning just after power had come back on in the area following a horror blackout.
The British holidaymaker in her twenties was 30 weeks pregnant when she went into labour – and is also in a stable condition.
Bermudez said: “The baby was dead when it was born. Its lips were purple.”
He added that he was “lucky enough” to be beside the mum when the baby came out, as without him present “it would have smashed its head on the ground”.
The Brit mum gave birth “as she went out to a garden area by reception to get some fresh air”, according to the courageous receptionist.
The brave hotel worker then described how he saved the premature baby with CPR.
“When I saw it didn’t have a pulse I started tapping its chest with three fingers and doing mouth-to-mouth while I got the mum to pat its bottom after putting a finger in its mouth to remove some of the reflux and cut its umbilical cord,” he said.
The baby “kept coming and going” after two or three minutes of revival attempts – prompting the man to call for help.
He said: “There had been no time to call for a taxi so I had to act on instinct and with help from a woman from 999 who was giving me advice on the phone.
“The ambulance people took over when they arrived.”
Bermudez described the baby’s mum as “very young” and told how “she was in a state of shock when they took her to hospital”.
“I’m being told she’s okay and in a normal ward and we’re just praying now her baby boy pulls through,” he said hopefully.
9
9
Bermudez, who has only basic first aid training and has worked as an electrician as well as in hotels, said: “I only found out the British woman was pregnant after her waters broke.”
The mum’s partner had earlier told hotel staff that her belly was aching and they asked for medicine.
But the hotel staff “couldn’t offer any” and instead offered to arrange for a taxi to take her to a doctor.
Alert Bermudez said that when he “saw her come down to reception with her trousers all wet”, he knew he had to act fast.
“It was an incredible experience and one I hope has a happy ending for both mother and baby.
“I’d like to think anyone would act the way I did in that sort of situation,” the humble man added.
“I don’t consider myself to be a hero but it’s true I brought that little baby back to life.”
9
9
Spanish National Police said that a baby was “delivered at the doors of a hotel in Torremolinos”.
They confirmed it was “born prematurely” with the help of “emergency medical responders, the hotel receptionist and police officers”.
A regional emergency service spokesman said the dramatic birth unfolded “during the early hours of yesterday morning in the midst of the crisis caused by the blackout on the Spanish mainland”.
They said: “The receptionist of the establishment assisted her and even performed CPR on the newborn, who had no pulse.
“The baby showed signs of asphyxia and had gone purple so the receptionist, following instructions from medical experts over the phone, performed CPR manoeuvres until it started to cough.”
The devastating power outages that took place during the fortunate birth left millions of people without electricity and trapped thousands in lifts or in sweltering-hot trains with no air conditioning.
They have so far been blamed for five deaths.
But electricity had been restored to nearly 90% of mainland Spain by early on Tuesday, the grid operator REE said.
Power was also restored overnight to around 6.2 million households in Portugal out of 6.5 million, according to the national electricity grid operator.
Lights came on again in Madrid and in Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, on Monday night to massive cheers.
9
9