Dad's baby delivery drama on tape

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/south_east/7131242.stm

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A father who delivered his baby son at home with the help of an ambulance controller on the phone is to be given a keepsake tape of the drama.

Dan James, 30, had to take on the role of midwife after his partner Alison Maude, 28, went into labour suddenly.

With controller Victoria Barrell at the end of the phone, he brought son Oliver into the world at home in Penarth.

Now a recording of the crucial phone call, including Oliver's first cry, is to be given to the family as a memento.

Victoria, who has worked at the Welsh Ambulance Service control room in Mamhilad, near Pontypool, for just over a year, said: "You expect people to be a bit panicky, especially at first. But he was quite calm and did a great job.

"I think I was on the phone for 23 minutes and the baby was born after about 16."

Dan's the real start of the show... he was fantastic and so was Victoria Alison Maude, Oliver's mother

Oliver was born at noon on Friday, 23 November, weighing 7lb 13oz.

But his arrival at home in the Vale of Glamorgan took his parents by surprise.

Dan, 30, a property developer, said: "We had taken two-year-old daughter Chloe to the child minder and by about 11am the contractions were about every two or three minutes and we were advised by the hospital to wait about an hour but by 11.30am they were less than a minute apart.

"A friend of mine is a paramedic and I rang him and he said to dial 999 and get Alison on the floor and get ready because I was probably going to have to deliver the baby.

"I dialled 999 and got through to Victoria and by 12 noon the baby was here and within a few minutes the ambulance was here too and they cut the cord.

"It was just incredible the speed it all happened. If someone had asked me if I wanted to deliver my child I would have said no.

"It's very scary but when you're faced with it and there's no other option and there's a child coming out then you just go into a sort of trance and get it done."

He added: "It's about 10 minutes later you start shaking."

Alison, a teacher, said: "Dan's the real start of the show.

"He was fantastic and so was Victoria."