KEMH welcomes baby during hurricane force winds

Friday 23 September 2022: While winds from Hurricane Fiona were raging outside, Bermudian couple Kei-shea Fubler and Brandon Wilson were oblivious as they brought their first child, daughter A’riyah Justice Fubler-Wilson into the world at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

A’riyah was born at 3:17am weighing 6lbs 8oz.

Mother Kei-shea was overdue and was actually slated to be induced before news came that Hurricane Fiona would impact the island. “The doctors had rescheduled that for Monday or Tuesday,” said father Brandon, “but A’riyah decided to come naturally today. It all worked out well.”

Bermuda Hospitals Board had advised the couple to overnight in the Maternity Unit as a precaution given the late stage of the pregnancy.

“They felt that the baby could come and that it would be difficult, or near impossible for us to make it here in time,” said the father. “And that’s what happened. They gave us good advice and we are glad we took it.”

Beaming with delight, Brandon said witnessing the birth of his daughter was difficult to explain. “So many different wonderful emotions are there. I was happy, I wanted everything to go smoothly and for the birth experience to be good one and for her to be healthy. Anything can happen during delivery and I’m grateful that we had a successful delivery. It’s a blessing.”

Mother Kei-shea said:” I’m overwhelmed with joy. I brought this new life into the world. She is well and I am well. I’m blessed. And it’s such a relief that she came naturally. I was a bit scared of being induced. The nurses and the staff were there for me and for Brandon. I felt supported.”

Asked if they’d considered naming their daughter Fiona, the couple said many of their family and friends had asked the same. “We thought maybe Stormy,” said Kei-shea, but we had already agreed on A’riyah Justice and decided we were comfortable with that.”

23 September 2022 Home Page, News

BHB welcomes Storm

Thursday 19 September 2019: Maya Collice Julia-Lynn Morris was due on Tuesday 17 September but mother Collice Washington went into labour in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and Maya was born during Hurricane Humberto on Wednesday 18 September.  Maya, the first child of both mother Collice and father Paul Morris, was the only baby born in Bermuda during the hurricane.

“We’d like to thank the maternity ward staff and physicians for all their assistance with the birth of our daughter,” said Paul. “As first-time parents they made us very comfortable and exhibited professionalism in both the way they spoke and treated us. Even through our concerns they listened, advised and met our needs. Collice and I are truly grateful to them.

“They played an integral role in us having a healthy baby,” he added.

“We didn’t know the baby’s sex beforehand and actually thought we were going to have a boy,” said Collice.

“People kept telling us we were having a boy, using all the old wives tales saying because she was carrying the baby high, it was definitely a boy,” said Paul. “Although I thought it was a boy, all I ever wanted was to have a healthy baby so I was not just surprised, I was also very happy when our daughter arrived.”

“I was open for either sex, I thought it would be nice to have a daughter, but I have a lot of brothers so I thought a boy would be also be good,” said Collice.

At 7:10pm as the winds escalated outside and the streets were clear of traffic, Maya made her way into Bermuda.

“There’s nothing that really compares with that moment and the joyfulness of it,” said Collice.

She admitted that the birth also provided her a great sense of relief as she was worried that she would be giving birth on her birthday, September 20 – tomorrow.

The couple said they gave no thought to Humberto during the 12-hour labour and were completely focused on their baby.

“My friends are teasing me asking if we are going to name her Humbertina,” laughed Paul, “of course not, but we do plan to nickname her Storm”.

Maya (Storm) Morris weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 19 inches long when she was born at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital at 7:10 on Wednesday 18 September 2019.

As a precautionary measure, eight expectant mothers (all in their ninth month) stayed in the Maternity Unit during the hurricane. None went into labour.  All returned home today.

19 September 2019 Home Page, News

Bermuda Hospitals Board records seven births in 24 hours

1 February 2019: Hailstones half an inch in diameter falling in 70 degree weather wasn’t the only unusual occurrence that took place on Tuesday 29 January 2019. It was also an unusually busy day in the Maternity Unit of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH).

“It was a brisk day in the labour and delivery rooms as seven babies were born within 24 hours,” says Lisa Blyden, clinical manager of Maternity and Special Care Baby Unit. Bermuda Hospitals Board Maternity Unit nurses are all trained in midwifery. Ms Blyden says although they were all busy, they knew exactly what to do and carried out their duties with the utmost professionalism, providing personalised care and advice to each mother. The following is a list of parents and babies born:

  1. Gina Liburd and Wayne Wales, daughter Glow Gentle Wales, 11:04am 29 January 2019
  2. Ouafae Hajjioui and Kevin Daley, son Ryan, 11:54am 29 January 2019
  3. Lichel Tumulak and Mario Ferraro, son, 1:55pm 29 January 2019
  4. Kristen and Daniel Heinlein, son Hayes Heinlein, 5:28pm 29 January 2019
  5. Brittany Bean and Leon Weekes, daughter Maci Barstowe-Weekes, 6:39pm 29 January 2019
  6. Yuedi Ding and Alvin Du, son Jackson Du, 11:41pm 29 January 2019
  7. Vanessa and Michael Thompson, son (not yet named), 5:41am 30 January 2019

Six of the seven mothers agreed to be photographed with their newborns on Thursday 31 January.

Pictured from left: Yuedi and Jackson, Kristen and Hayes, Gina and Glow, Vanessa and son, Brittany and Maci, and, Ouafae and Ryan.

Seven babies born in a single day is not a Bermuda Hospitals Board record. The last time this happened was on 18 October 2017.  There have been 14 times in recent history that eight births have been recorded in a single day, nine has been the maximum. Interestingly three of the four times that this took place were in 2009.  It also took place in 2002.

1 February 2019 Home Page, News