Heavily pregnant woman went into labour after being attacked by a mugger
By
Martin Delgado
Last updated at 9:03 AM on 01st December 2008
A heavily pregnant woman went into labour after being mugged outside her home.
Anastasia Bloom, 34, was attacked by a hooded teenager in Hampstead, North London, where she lives with her husband and two children.
During the struggle the investment banker suffered an injury to her neck and fell to the ground, landing on top of her attacker’s bicycle.
Her mother, Nadia Bagdanova, suffered bruising as she tried to fight off the teenager. The attacker ran off with a diamond-encrusted pendant.
Mrs Bloom, whose baby was a week overdue, was taken to nearby Portland Hospital in Central London, where, five hours later, she gave birth to a healthy 6lb 10oz baby girl whom she has named Elizabeth.
Anastasia Bloom, who gave birth after she was mugged
Her husband Daniel Bloom, 36, a property developer, said his wife was exhausted.
‘Anastasia was 41 weeks pregnant – so she was obviously pregnant to anyone who saw her,’ he said. ‘Whoever did this is someone who had absolutely no emotion or respect for anybody.
‘A pregnant woman is like an old lady in some respects – how could they do it? It was extremely cowardly.’
Anastasia’s mother suffered bruising to her hand and arm but neither she nor her daughter needed hospital treatment for their injuries.
Mr Bloom said: ‘They were standing right outside the house when a young man, only about 17 or so and wearing a hoodie, grabbed her chain. He was standing right in front of her and as he did it he scratched her neck.
‘My mother-in-law started shouting, “What are you doing?”
‘He pushed her and she grabbed hold of him and all three ended up falling on to his bike. At that stage he couldn’t get to his bike so he ran away.
‘Anastasia’s mother got up and ran after him shouting, “Catch him, catch him!”
‘Neighbours started coming out of the houses but he was too fast for them.’
The hooded teenager then escaped on foot. Mr Bloom was at a business meeting in Hampstead at the time of the assault on Thursday.
He said: ‘Anastasia phoned me to say she’d been attacked. I rushed home from my meeting and found the police and neighbours outside my house.
‘Because Anastasia was pregnant, the police decided to take her to Portland Hospital, where we had arranged for the birth to take place.
‘I was very worried. Anastasia was fine, bearing in mind what had happened but as soon as we got there she went into labour. She was a week overdue so it’s hard to say whether it started the labour but let’s just say it was extraordinarily dramatic.
‘By this time she was very, very scared. She thinks she may have seen this man a few times before in the street.’
Mrs Bloom, originally from Russia, has lived with her husband in London for eight years and has an MA in economics from the London School of Economics.
Mr Bloom added: ‘The birth was fine. But it was a very mixed feeling for all of us. We are happy because of the joyous outcome but it’s mixed feelings with what happened to my wife.
‘Elizabeth is a lovely and beautiful girl and there were no problems so it could have been worse. We are not going to forget this day and we have not been able to tell the other children.’
The stolen pendant is believed to be worth several thousand pounds. It is described as a five-finger design encrusted with diamonds.
The couple have two other children, Alex, seven, and five-year-old Sophie.
‘It’s always hard with a newborn baby but even more so when you have been through this ordeal,’ added Mr Bloom.
‘We are just concentrating on Elizabeth.’
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Shameful crime, hope all turns out well for mum and baby!
These crimes might abate if and when the punishment fits the crime. All this waste of space will get if found and convicted is a few hours community service which is a desirory sentence for any crime, especially one of violence. What we need are a few vigilante reprisals on these parasites to stop this sort of despicable crime against defenceless people. We should be allowed to walk our streets without fear of attack. Bring back corporal punishment for these thugs and attacks will stop overnight!
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They have given up any human rights aspect by acting like animals, don't protect them, hold them up for public ridicule. When will this country learn.
- dee, Bristol, 01/12/2008 12:36