There are an awful lot of bridge babies in the world — that is, babies born to mothers so addicted to the game that they’re still playing when they go into labour. I recently learnt that the actor Jack Lemmon was one: his mother Mildred was playing in New York’s Ritz-Carlton hotel when her contractions began. She was rushed to hospital but didn’t quite make it — Jack was born in the hospital lift.
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My friend Lou Hobhouse can beat that: not only was she at the bridge table hours before giving birth to her first child — she was back just hours afterwards. Cradling her cards in her arms, she quipped that having a baby was a cinch compared to playing in a redoubled slam. Lou is now the editor of the English Bridge Union magazine, and as crazy about the game as ever.
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