But after the first few harrowing moments, she was able to be warmly welcomed, including by maternity team members who popped a woollen beanie on her head.
All babies born at the hospital are given a woollen beanie, and the hospital has closed off donations after a recent call-out saw it inundated with contributions from kind and hardworking knitters.
As Brylee’s story shows, childbirth is not always straightforward.
Her mother and father, Courtney Menzies and Paul Fletcher, said their daughter was not breathing after she was placed on Courtney’s chest soon after her birth at 4.30am.
“She made a bit of a quick entrance and just went into shock,” Courtney explained.
Brylee was then taken away for medical staff to work on her nearby, giving her chest compressions and oxygen.
“For me, it felt like hours. It was probably only minutes,” she said of the moments before Brylee was returned.
Brylee is now in perfect health, a beautiful eight-pound four-ounce girl, who passed all of her hospital tests prior to mother and daughter being able to go home yesterday.
Courtney said it was nice to receive the woollen beanie, which Brylee was wearing when she was returned to her after being resuscitated.
It would be something she would always treasure, alongside the one she had received for Brylee’s big sister Greer after she was born almost four years ago.
“It’s one of those things that’s quite a special wee present,” Courtney said.
Christchurch Women’s Hospital maternity team had been inundated with more than 200 woollen beanies after putting the call out for a restock of supplies last week.
Charge midwife Amanda Daniell said supplies had run low after an influx of babies.
“They are flying out the door, the babies and the beanies,” she said.
