Dad is midwife at mum’s motorway birth

A MUM has told how her husband was forced to “catch” their newborn daughter after she gave birth on the side of the motorway into the footwell of her pal’s car.

Amy Greaves, 28, went into labour at home and couldn’t get in touch with her midwife so friend Stacey Eckley, 25, offered to drive her to hospital in her dad’s Jaguar.

But the 15-minute journey was scuppered by roadworks which forced them on to the motorway and, 20 minutes later, she couldn’t hold on any longer. They pulled off the dual carriageway seconds before partner Sean Powell, 32, rushed from the back seat just in time to catch baby Lilia before she hit the floor of the car.

Their daughter Eva, three, who was in the car got frightened by her mum’s screams so Stacey gave her Peppa Pig videos to watch on her phone while Amy laboured.

Paramedics arrived but said it was safer not to move Amy, so Stacey drove her the final few minutes to Worcester Hospital, followed by the ambulance.

Sean – who had to untangle the umbilical cord from round Lilia’s neck – said it was the “most terrifying experience of my life”.

Preschool teacher Amy, from Worcester, said: “It was really crazy.

“Lilia came out literally on the second push and thankfully Sean managed to catch her before she hit the floor of the car.

“It was really scary as she had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck so she didn’t cry at the start but luckily she was OK. I’m just really glad I had Sean and Stacey there to help me.”

Sean said: “I have never felt so scared in my life. I just knew we weren’t going to make it to the hospital in time.

“I was relying on instinct as I had no assistance and hadn’t even read anything about delivering a baby. It wasn’t until hours afterwards that I stopped shaking.”

DOING WELL Amy and Lilia