TWO quick-thinking paramedics helped a young Durban mother deliver her baby in the back seat of a car in Hillcrest yesterday.

ER24 paramedics Avishkar Motilal and Arvin Naidoo were tra­velling in their response vehicle on Old Main Road when they were flagged down by a group of people.

When they approached a stationary car, they found Susan Findi in an advanced stage of labour. A large crowd watched as the pair saved the mother and the baby.

“She was lying in the back seat of the car. She had already started to deliver her baby. The mother was in a lot of pain and was crying,” said Motilal.

Motilal said that the baby’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, cutting off the oxygen supply. “The baby was not breathing. We immediately put the baby on a ventilator as she was starved of oxygen. She was stabilised and taken to St Mary’s Hospital,” he said.

He said Findi was extremely anxious and burst into tears when they managed to revive the baby.

Naidoo said it took 15 minutes to deliver the baby in what he described as “a tense and complicated” delivery.

Like proud fathers, Naidoo and Motilal visited the baby, who has not been named, in hospital and cooed over her.

Both have delivered babies before, but they count this delivery as an extra-special one due to the complications involved.

“I’m just glad that she is okay. It was sad watching her mother while we tried to save the baby. She thought she was going to lose her baby,” said Naidoo.

Motilal said it is always an awesome experience saving a life.

“It’s definitely something I will always remember. I hope that the baby has a long and healthy life,” he said.