Baby born at petrol station on way to hospital

4 hours ago

News image — The baby boy, who is not yet named, is doing "absolutely fine"

Supplied The baby is wearing a white hat and is wrapped in a white blanket. His eyes are closed. He is being held by someone with blue and pink nails. — The baby boy, who is not yet named, is doing "absolutely fine"

A mother gave birth to her son in the back seat of a car at a petrol station, as their dash to the hospital was abruptly cut short.

Sarah Frost was enjoying chicken curry at her mother's house in Trimdon at their regular Sunday tea date, when her waters broke nine days before she was due.

Her sister and her partner James attempted to drive her to University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton, but were forced to turn into the Esso in Sedgefield, where people ran to help bringing towels and t-shirts.

Frost said she and baby were doing "absolutely fine", adding: "It's going to be the talk of the Sunday table for a while, isn't it?"

She told Radio Tees: "We just, kind of, took it in our stride.

"I don't think any of us panicked as much as we should have."

Her sister Danielle Charlton, who was driving, said they ended up in the no-entry area of the forecourt as Frost was shouting: "I can see him, I can feel him, we need to pull over."

Danielle Charlton James is cutting the baby's umbilical cord. The baby is on top of the mother Sarah, who is laying in the backseat of the car, covered in various cloths. In the foreground, a paramedic who is wearing blue gloves is holding the cord steady. The baby's face is scrunched up as if he is crying. — The paramedics eventually arrived at the petrol station in Sedgefield

Charlton said she jumped into the back seat, as her partner was calling for an ambulance, and saw the baby was already crowning.

He said: "Sarah was absolutely brilliant, she was so calm and I was just, right, 'Sarah we're gonna push'."

She said: "Then people out of the petrol station were just running with towels, bedsheets, t-shirts.

"And James, which is dad, took his t-shirt off and we just had him wrapped up."

Paramedics arrived and the family went to hospital.

"I just don't have words, I just laugh every time I think about it," Frost said.

The hospital staff joined her in her bemusement, she said, adding: "Every time someone comes through the door, they were just laughing, they were like, "is this the Esso garage baby?"

Meanwhile, Charlton said it was a "little scary" on reflection, but that she "absolutely loved" the experience.

"On the Sunday night, I couldn't get to sleep, all I kept thinking about was, 'I've just delivered a baby'."

The baby weighed in at seven pounds and five ounces (3.3kg) and his parents are still deciding on a name.

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