A NEW mother has thanked an ambulance crew for delivering her baby at home after they arrived to find her on the verge of giving birth.

Nursery practitioner Amy Turnbull, 22, of Gateshead, began contractions and was preparing for nature to take its course, but as time went by and her contractions strengthened, she phoned for an ambulance to get to hospital.

A North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) crew attended to find the 22-year-old almost ready to have the baby.

Paramedic Sarah Robinson, who is no stranger to childbirth having helped delivered four babies in the past, said: “Amy delivered Ethan much quicker than we were expecting.

"It really was a team effort to deliver her baby and get them both to hospital as soon as possible. It has been great to come back and see how well Amy and Ethan are doing.”

Ms Robinson was accompanied by student paramedic, Tom Cuthbertson to the incident. He added: “It was a privilege to help bring a new life into the world and we were all relieved that things went so smoothly.

"Amy was fantastic throughout and it has been great to see them both.”

Once safely delivered, baby Ethan and his mum were taken to Gateshead Queen Elizabeth Hospital, when the ambulance crew members recognised the baby felt cold.

Ethan was cared for in an incubator and the two stayed in hospital for seven nights before being discharged home to begin their new life as a family.

Ms Turnbull said: “My mum phoned the ambulance when my contractions were getting stronger and closer together.

"The ambulance arrived really quickly and they knew exactly what to do because, in what can only have been minutes from them arriving, I gave birth to my son."

She added: “Ethan is now 11 weeks old and after the experience, I wanted to meet up with the crew to thank them for all that they did for me and Ethan.

"If they hadn’t have acted so quickly and got us to hospital as soon as they did, he could have been a lot more poorly than he was. Both Sarah and Tom were very reassuring throughout the birth and I can’t thank them enough for being there.”