Baby born amid Mexico City earthquake hailed as a symbol of hope
A baby boy born in the very midst of hellish scenes as Tuesday’s deadly earthquake struck Mexico City has provided hope and inspiration to a country in mourning after the loss of at least 230 lives, including 21 children in a school.
“It was a miracle,” said first-time mother Jessica Mendoza of the birth of Adolfo Iñaki on a bench in the street outside the Sanatorio Durango hospital in Roma Norte, one of the worst-affected neighbourhoods in the Mexican capital.
“The world was falling around us and he came to save ours. It’s the greatest message of love and example of strength and bravery for the world,” Mrs Mendoza’s husband, Amado Ortiz, told the newspaper El País.
Mrs Mendoza was already in the delivery room with “six centimetres of dilation” when the tremor began and the medical team began to evacuate the building. “Despite everything happening around me I carried on with the birth. I completely isolated myself; I didn’t hear a thing,” Ms Mendoza said.
She explained that her doctor, the midwife and nurses shepherded her to a safe place to continue labour outside the building, which turned out to be a public bench covered by an impromptu field hospital canopy fashioned out of sheets by police officers.
Mrs Mendoza gave birth to her son without anaesthetic after half an hour of labour as Mexico City was plunged into chaos with buildings collapsing as a result of the 7.1-magnitude quake.
“I want to thank Doctor Elisabeth Valencia and all of her team. They were magnificent.”
Around an hour after the earthquake Mrs Mendoza was allowed back inside for post-natal care. “It’s an old hospital but it stood up well,” she said.
