Couple deliver baby at roadside before being told they'd face 'seven hour wait for ambulance'
15.01.2022 - 19:57
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A quick-thinking dad had to deliver his newborn baby in a car when his partner gave birth on the way to hospital – before being told they'd face a wait of up to seven hours for an ambulance.
Luke Rawlings, 29, was forced to pull over in the early hours of Friday (January 7) and make his partner Gemma Earle comfortable as they prepared for their son Sonny's shock arrival.
The groundworker from Caldicot, Wales, said: "When something like that happens your head's just racing and you're thinking of the worst.
"You're thinking, 'What if something's wrong?' Luckily he came out all safe and healthy. It's a story to tell him when he's older."
Sonny is the couple's fourth child, Wales Online reports.
Their other youngsters— Ruby, seven, Rosie, four, and Eliza, two — were all born in hospital around the due date, but Sonny was three days late.
Gemma was due to be induced at the Grange University Hospital, in Llanfrechfa, on the Sunday but it became clear on the Thursday night that the baby would not wait that long.
Luke said: "The missus was at home. She was having what she the thought were Braxton Hicks, which mimic labour pains but are not actually labour.
"Any time she gets any sort of pain she tends to put it off as something else. She'd been in pain for about two days, and the pains were coming closer and closer together.
"We rang Gemma's mum on Thursday night and she made her way over to pick our other kids up. I rang the Grange hospital at about midnight and explained what was going on.
"They said, 'It sounds very much sounds like she's going into labour — pack your bag and head to hospital.'
"When Gemma's mum got here, Gemma was in the living room and she was really struggling to get up and to the door. I said, 'We've got to