06-05-2025
Pregnant woman airlifted from Caldey Island beauty spot
The woman was visiting Caldey Island, off the coast of Tenby, when she went into labour and urgently needed to return to the mainland.
Tenby Lifeboat was requested to help by he Welsh Ambulance Service, Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 187 from St Athan was also tasked to the island.
Both Tenby lifeboats launched, with a paramedic being taken over to the island on the town's all-weather lifeboat.
The inshore lifeboat was first to arrive and dropped crew members ashore to locate the woman and provide a radio update on her condition for the paramedic.
The all weather lifeboat then arrived at the island, but due to the state of the tide it was not able to get alongside Caldey's landing quay.
Because of this, the paramedic and her equipment were transferred to the inshore lifeboat, which dropped her ashore on the island.
She was then taken to the patient and was soon met by the paramedic from the helicopter, which had also now arrived.
Once the patient had been assessed, it was decided that the most comfortable way to get her off the island was by helicopter, rather than have to swap from the inshore lifeboat to the all-weather lifeboat and then make the journey in choppy seas back to Tenby.
Once the patient was safely in the air and on the way to hospital, the lifeboats were stood down to return to station, arriving at 10.30am.
Caldey Island said that the woman was taken to Singleton Hospital where her baby boy was delivered on Monday afternoon. Coincidentally, Monday was also the International Day of the Midwife, celebrating the work pf midwives and midwifery the world over.
A spokesperson for the island said that both mother and baby were doing well and thanked everyone involved for their help.
