Weather forces dad to deliver his baby girl Megan (From Echo)

Weather forces dad to deliver his baby girl Megan

8:00am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News By Emma Palmer

A FATHER had to deliver his first baby at home after the midwife got stranded in the snow.

Faced with the realisation Sarah Alder, 35, was going into labour in the couple’s upstairs bedroom, Steve Watson grabbed a few towels from the airing cupboard and got to work.

The 34-year-old teacher then delivered his 8lb 6oz daughter Megan with his own hands, while a 999 operator on the other end of the phone tried to offer words of advice.

The drama unfolded at the couple’s home in Ascot Grove, Basildon, at 3am on Sunday, as 10cm of snow had carpeted the ground.

Steve explained: “Sarah got out of bed as she was feeling a bit uncomfortable. Pretty quickly she realised she was in labour.

“We were due to have a home birth anyway, but we were going to have a midwife there for support.

“But then we both looked out of the window and said ‘uh-oh’.

“We called the midwife, but because of the snow she couldn’t get her car out.

“I dialled for an ambulance, but it was quite clear at that point the baby wasn’t going to wait.

“The 999 operator told me to look at where the baby was. She told me ‘get yourself down there and see what you can do’.

Steve, who is a stepfather to Sarah’s six-year-old daughter, Abi, but a first-time dad himself, added: “It was so surreal, but breathtaking.

“I can’t put it into words. It all happened so quickly.

“I was like ‘oh my God I can see the head’ then ‘oh my God I can see her eyes’.

“Sarah was so brave, she is an amazing woman. She didn’t scream once, she just got on with it.”

Paramedics also got stuck in the snow as they rushed to the scene and had to be dug out by two neighbours.

When they did arrive at the house they let Steve cut the umbilical cord himself. Steve said: “I think they thought I’d started the job so they’d let me finish.”

Little Megan and Sarah were eventually taken to Basildon Hospital where they were checked out and both deemed to be fit and healthy.

Steve, who teaches a public services pathway course at South Essex College, added: “It all went so well. The ironic thing was I’d told Sarah beforehand there was no way I was going to watch the birth.

“I had planned to hold her hand and stroke her hair and stay upside of things. But now I think it was a wonderful gift to be able to bring my own daughter into the world.”

Sarah added: “Although it was a bit of a drama it was wonderful that Steve got to deliver Megan. It will be a lovely story to tell her one day.”

The couple said they were extremely grateful to their neighbours, Wayne Bond and Daniel Rice, who dug the ambulance out of the snow.