Jessamine nodded and swallowed. ‘I can’t stand. I wanna kneel down on the floor.’ With that the girl pushed off the couch and awkwardly knelt down until she’d buried her head between her elbows and then into a pillow Denise hurriedly dragged off the nearest bed. Nurse Jill was like a sprite dragging towels from cupboards, helping Ava put protection under Jessamine’s knees and body to shield against discomfort and cold, then tossing a thin blanket over her back.

Even Zac, who hadn’t done a lot of obstetrics, didn’t look surprised that a strongly labouring woman wanted to throw herself into the best position. Ava knew Jessamine had listened to her body telling her the most useful way to use gravity.

Ava saw that Zac had found a stethoscope for the baby and was making a space on a nearby bed to examine or resuscitate the infant if he needed a work surface, a task Ava was glad wouldn’t fall to her.

As Jessamine knelt down, Zac used his foot to slide a little footstool for Ava to sit on so she could hover close by and help if needed. In the background, she picked up the quiet rumble of the tumble drier. Jill must have switched it on to warm towels and a blanket for the baby on her way to the phone. This wasn’t the first time a child had been born in the clinic, but it was certainly unusual. Everything had better work out well because there was no backup aside from those present.

A few minutes later, Jill returned with the emergency birthing kit and an injection drawn up to give after the birth. Ava flashed her an appreciative smile. They certainly didn’t want a post-partum haemorrhage.

‘It’s coming,’ Jessamine gasped as the baby’s body gradually appeared with the help of gravity and the mother’s pushing.

In slow slides, centimetre by centimetre, the baby’s hip descended. Denise’s eyes grew huge and even Jill looked incredulous. It became apparent that Jessamine’s dream about a new male in the family was right as a tiny scrotum swung into view. Her man would be pleased.

‘Let the legs come themselves,’ Ava murmured to Zac, even as she privately thought, It’s so hard not to flick those legs out! She was mindful of the words of her recent instructors and explained quietly to Zac, ‘While the legs are folded inside the mother, they’re stretching everything for the head. If the legs are flicked out too early, the birth canal misses out on the extra stretching that helps the rapid descent of the head.’

He nodded. ‘Sensible.’