Come hell or high water, newborn cousins defy the odds during flood chaos
Meet the flood cousins: Two babies born days apart who will share a rare legacy from the Brisbane floods.
As the floodwaters kept rising in Brisbane and surrounds, Kate Albion and her sister Jessica Lane were each awaiting the arrival of their babies, both scheduled to be delivered at Brisbane’s Mater Mothers’ Hospital.
But the new arrivals made anything but a smooth appearance.
Traffic chaos caused by the flooding meant that one of the cousins, Joseph Albion, arrived before his mum’s obstetrician could reach the hospital. The infant was unable to breathe alone and required emergency treatment.
Ms Albion’s sister Jessica’s daughter Isobel had arrived three days earlier, but was suffering fluid on the lungs. So the two cousins got to know each other in the Special Care Nursery at Mater Mothers’ – while the two mums caught up on some rest in rooms just three doors apart.
Kate, of Upper Kedron, and sister Jessica, of Ferny Hills, said their “flood babies” were extremely lucky and their birth stories were unforgettable as chaos surrounded them.
The Brisbane sisters share the same obstetrician and paediatrician. “Everything happened so quickly for us and we were so lucky we had another obstetrician step in and great care by the midwives and nurses,” Albion said.
Joseph and Isobel are now thriving.
“I’m really close to my sister and it’s comforting our little babies have shared this Special Care Nursery journey together,” Jessica said.
Driving through torrential rain on Tuesday to get to the hospital, Kate gave birth to her second child Joseph at 3.30pm weighing 3.3kg.
“There was so much rain and we were lucky to get to the hospital,” Kate said. “I’m so glad we were there because Joseph ended up coming so fast. Even our obstetrician ended up being stuck in traffic and missed the delivery.”
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She said it was comforting to know Jessica was on the same hospital ward, having given birth safely to Isobel, just three days earlier.
“The situation is actually pretty cool,” Kate said. “It’s not something we really expected.”
Jessica said she was really glad Isobel was born on Friday and not any later.
“It was really exciting to find out they were expecting at the same time, and then to realise it was within days of each other was a nice surprise,” she said.
Mater Mothers’ Hospitals is Australia’s largest maternity services provider, with more than 12 000 babies born every year.
