Quick-thinking Irish paramedics turned to Google Translate to communicate with a pregnant woman who spoke Swahili, allowing her to safely give birth.

The Cork ambulance drivers were transporting a pregnant Congolese woman to a maternity hospital last week when she went into labour. Gerry McCann and Shane Mulcahy were forced to pull over to the side of the road in order to deliver the baby but were faced with a serious problem because the woman spoke only limited English.

Fortunately McCann, who had access to a smartphone, hit on the bright idea of using Google Translate to communicate with the woman. The two paramedics-turned-midwives were able to successfully deliver a healthy baby girl.

McCann, a paramedic with 14 years experience, told local paper The Corkman that he’d had a lot of “near misses” over the years, described the birth in the early hours of Monday morning in the back of their ambulance as “magical.”

Google Translate allowed McCann, who was in the back of the ambulance while his colleague was driving, to understand that the woman (who was already experiencing contractions) felt that she needed to push. Mulcahy pulled the ambulance to a stop and helped out help out after McCann saw the crown of the baby’s head.

McCann told local paper The Corkman: “It’s something that I think I won’t ever forget as I was translating Swahili into English somewhere on the side of the road between Macroom and Lissarda."

The paramedic used Google Translate to ask the new mum if she had a name for the newborn girl. When she said she didn’t he suggested Brigid since the birth fell on the feast-day of the Irish saint.

Both mother and new baby are both doing well, The Corkman adds.

Swahili is spoken by various communities in south-east Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The new mother – who is not named by the The Corkman or other local reports – also spoke a little French. Maybe the woman’s medical records told McCann where she was from or what language she spoke, which was lucky because Google Translate offers only limited African language support. ®

Bootnote

The Swahili word for push is kushinikiza, at least according to Google Translate.