Dad delivers his baby in Land Rover after partner gives birth on the way to hospital

A dad has revealed how he delivered his own daughter after his partner gave birth in the car while on the way to hospital.

Jake and Emily Kathleen from Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, were on their way to Gloucester Hospital when the dad was forced to pull over on the A48 due to Emily suffering "intense" contraction.

With the help of two midwives on the phone, he delivered the couple's daughter, Piper weighing 7lb 14oz at 1.35am on 7 September 2023.

Following the birth, Jake drove to a nearby Toby Carvery to meet an ambulance when Emily suddenly haemorrhaged, losing three litres of blood.

The couple were forced to abandon their blood-soaked Land Rover as paramedics rushed the new mum to hospital for a blood transfusion, with police who came across the car becoming concerned a serious crime had taken place.

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Thankfully baby Piper, who has been lovingly nicknamed Landie after the car she was born in and her mum are both now home and recovering well.

"We didn’t even think about the car – we had to leave in such a hurry," Emily, who is the owner of High Society Models, explains.

"The car was covered in so much blood it must have looked like a murder had taken place when the police found it.

"They [the police] came to hospital to check out our story and make sure it was actually because I'd just had a baby and nothing awful."

Mum-of-two Emily, who already had son Roman, six, found out she was expecting her second child in January 2023.

After losing a lot of blood in her first labour, for unknown reasons, midwives had a plan in place to try to reduce the chance of haemorrhaging during her second delivery, but when she was 39 weeks pregnant Emily started experiencing contractions.

Having headed to hospital to get checked out, Emily's contractions stopped by 9am and the couple were sent home.

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At around 1am the following morning, Emily’s waters broke, and she knew the baby was on the way.

"We live about 50 mins from the hospital, so we knew it was always a risk getting there in time with the distance," she explains.

"She was baby number two, which tend to arrive quickly, but I didn’t think it would be that quick.

"We made it about 20 minutes up the road and I knew she was coming, so I told Jake to stop the car because I needed to push.

"We had to pull over in the pitch black, in the middle of nowhere, and call the midwives.

"They talked us through everything and Jake was amazing.

"I’ve got a panoramic sun roof so I could see her being born which was an experience I never thought I’d have.

"I had no pain relief, so it was pretty horrific, but she came out in a matter of minutes."

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With their daughter safely delivered and wrapped in Jake's top, the couple arranged to meet an ambulance at the nearest landmark, a Toby Carvery restaurant, on the outskirts of Gloucester.

But having already lost some blood Emily says she took a "funny turn" while walking across the car park.

Paramedics knew instantly she had haemorrhaged and rushed her to hospital for emergency treatment.

"Jake remembers watching my heartbeat go down drastically on the monitor in the back of the ambulance," she says of the experience.

"It was really scary but the crew were so calm and reassuring.

"I went to theatre straight away because my placenta was stuck, and they needed to pull it out.

"I was terrified when they said 'code red' and really thought I might die."

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While in theatre, police arrived to speak with the couple about their abandoned vehicle in the car park.

"Jake’s mum spoke with them and explained what had happened.

"They also found my purse with my ID on the dashboard which must have looked really dodgy.

“They had to hose down all the blood from the car park the following day.

“It’s quite funny looking back."

Emily spent two nights on the high dependency ward, before she was able to go home.

The couple say they are grateful to the ambulance crew, midwives and doctors who they describe as "amazing".

"We're grateful to the police for being so thorough too, despite it not being a horrific crime they might have assumed," Emily adds.

"Although it wasn’t the birthing experience I hoped for, we’re glad she arrived safely and now we have such a unique story to tell when she’s older."

Additional reporting SWNS.