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A Scottish Borders couple have been celebrating the safe birth of their son - on the front seat of the family car.


Matt and Seonaidh Morton, of Eddleston, were about halfway through the 25-mile trip to hospital when they realised they would not make it in time.

They pulled up their car in a layby in Innerleithen where Mr Morton was talked through the delivery by phone.

After a night in hospital both Mrs Morton and the new baby - called Jamie - were safely brought back home.

The unusual delivery took place in Innerleithen High Street earlier this week.

Mr Morton pulled his Honda Civic up outside a police station and was guided through the delivery by ambulance control room worker Anna Stevenson.

Mrs Morton gave birth with one leg up on the dashboard and the other on the steering wheel.

Her husband got round to the passenger side of the vehicle just in time to catch their son making his arrival.

“I was in labour for 40 hours with our other child, Catriona, so this was very easy,” said 38-year-old Mrs Morton.

The baby was delivered on Innerleithen’s High Street

“Going past Cardrona on the A72 road I knew we weren’t going to make it to the hospital and when we entered Innerleithen I got the urge to push.

“Matt was talking all the time to the girl from the ambulance service and she was telling him what to do - but I only had to push twice and he was out.”

The two bank workers sat by the roadside for 10 minutes before an ambulance crew arrived to cut the baby’s umbilical chord.

Following a night in Borders General Hospital both Mrs Morton and the baby, who weighed 8lbs 13ozs, returned home.

“We thought we had plenty of time as I’d popped in to see the midwife in the morning as I thought I was in early labour,” said Mrs Morton.

She returned home to have a bath but the contractions suddenly went from every 10 minutes to every five minutes.

“And by the time we had called the hospital to say we were coming they were every two minutes,” said Mrs Morton.

“The girl from the ambulance service said it was the first time she had talked anyone through a birth but she did well - she certainly kept Matt calm.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said it has to guide up to a dozen parents through impromptu births every year.

“Our operators are trained to stay on the telephone line after an ambulance has been called for,” he said.

“They have onscreen assistance to help them with any emergencies that may happen.”

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