By Casey Neill
Lisa Kasch gave birth to her third child on the side of York Road in Mount Evelyn.
“I had a 29 minute labour,” she said.
“We travelled from Yarra Junction and couldn’t make it any further.
“The ambos met us there as I was delivering – they were the only ambos on duty in the area and we had to meet them because it would have been a home delivery otherwise.
“They got me from the back of my car into the ambulance, drove 100 metres up the road and delivered on the side of the road.
“It was absolutely terrifying.
“Something could have gone wrong.
“The baby or I could have been seriously hurt.
“It was just sheer luck that everything was ok.
“Plus people were driving past. That was actually really embarrassing.”
Ms Kasch said the maternity unit at Healesville Hospital had closed so she “was forced to go to the Angliss”.
Her then-husband was driving to meet up with the Lilydale-based ambulance while trying to rub her back and keep her calm.
“We rang the ambulance just as we were leaving home,” Ms Kasch said.
Her first labour was two hours, and the second just one hour.
“The midwives had prepped my ex-husband to deliver the baby,” she said.
“We had no closer maternity units.
“The Angliss midwives were fantastic in prepping us, but they shouldn’t have to be doing that either.”
She would have made it to hospital in time had Healesville still been offering maternity services.
“I would have made it – barely made it but I would have made it,” she said.
“Healesville have all the services there. It’s just wasted.
“We had to make that split second decision – do I deliver at home or do I try to make it to the hospital?
“It was very scary, and daunting for my poor ex-husband.
“I was very lucky that he had a cool head.”
Ms Kasch and her siblings were all born at Healesville.
“I would have gladly had my children there,” she said.
“I know of other people who have delivered at home because they haven’t been able to make it.
“A lot of people are choosing home delivery over a hospital delivery purely because they don’t think they’ll make it to the hospital.”
