A Costa del Sol hotel receptionist told how he saved the lives of a young British tourist and her newborn baby after she gave birth prematurely when blackouts hit Spain.
The holidaymaker in her 20s is stable in hospital after the dramatic delivery in the early hours of Tuesday at the Puente Real Hotel in Torremolinos.
Police described the baby, said to have been in critical condition when it was rushed to the Materno Infantil Hospital in Malaga, as ‘stable’ in an update around midday.
Receptionist Arturo Bermudez, 40, told how he caught hold of the baby after it ‘dropped out’ of its mum’s womb before performing life-saving CPR.
The drama took place at around 3am on Tuesday just after power had returned in the area following a horror blackout which has so far been blamed for five deaths.
It also left millions of people without electricity and phones and thousands trapped in lifts or in sweltering-hot trains with no air conditioning.
The British holidaymaker was 30 weeks pregnant when she went into labour.
Receptionist Arturo Bermudez, 40, told how he caught hold of the baby after it ‘dropped out’ of its mum’s womb before performing life-saving CPR
The holidaymaker in her twenties is stable in hospital after the dramatic delivery in the early hours of this morning at the Puente Real Hotel in Torremolinos (pictured)
Mr Bermudez said: ‘The baby was dead when it was born. Its lips were purple.
‘It literally dropped out from between its mum’s legs as she went out to the garden to get some fresh air.’
The hero receptionist said the rescue came down to luck as he just so happened to have been beside her before the baby fell towards the ground.
‘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.’
It took around two-to-three minutes for Mr Bermudez to revive the baby, but it kept dropping in and out of consciousness.
Mr Bermudez recalled there being little time to call a taxi, forcing him to act on instinct and under the verbal guidance of a 999 telephone operator.
When the ambulance arrived, paramedics took over the rescue efforts and the shocked mother was dashed to hospital.
‘I’m being told she’s okay and in a normal ward and we’re just praying now her baby pulls through,’ the receptionist said.
Mr Bermudez, who has only basic first aid training, added: ‘I only found out the British woman was pregnant after her waters broke.’
The mother’s partner had told him earlier that day that her stomach was experiencing some pain, but Mr Bermudez informed him that the hotel could not offer any medicine and only a taxi ride to the doctors.
‘It was left that he’d alert us if the problems persisted and it was only when I saw her come down to reception with her trousers all wet that I sussed she was about to give birth,’ he said.
‘It was an incredible experience and one I hope has a happy ending for both mother and baby.
Mr Bermudez recalled there being little time to call a taxi, forcing him to act on instinct and under the verbal guidance of a 999 telephone operator. Pictured: Torremolinos
Speaking about the incident, Spanish National Police said: ‘In the middle of the power outage a baby was delivered at the doors of a hotel in Torremolinos’. Pictured: Torremolinos
‘I’d like to think anyone would act the way I did in that sort of situation. I don’t consider myself to be a hero but it’s true I brought that little baby back to life.’
Speaking about the incident, Spanish National Police said: ‘In the middle of the power outage a baby was delivered at the doors of a hotel in Torremolinos.
‘It was born prematurely, following the intervention of emergency medical responders and the hotel receptionist and help from police officers who escorted the ambulance with the mum and her new-born baby to hospital in Malaga where they remain in a stable condition.’
A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency services coordination centre confirmed this morning: ‘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 labor, 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 new-born was admitted in critical condition, although with a pulse.’
