AFTER nine months of planning for a perfect delivery, a newborn baby was dramatically welcomed into the world on the A66 in the middle of a snow storm.

Daniella Waring went into labour with her third child yesterday morning and headed for hospital from her home in Catterick, North Yorkshire, with her husband, Andrew.

As the couple trekked across the A66, a blizzard and poor driving conditions forced Mr Waring to pull over near Elton, between Darlington and Stockton, when they realised their baby girl was not going to wait much longer.

Mr Waring said: “The weather was very bad and I struggled to find somewhere to pull over and barely had time to ring 999 when the baby started coming.

“Having been present at the birth of our two other children I just copied what I had seen then.

“I opened the passenger door and knelt in the snow to deliver the baby.”

Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) crew Lee Salmon and Philip O’Donnell were first on scene, quickly backed up by a North East Ambulance service crew at 9.10am, manned by paramedic mentor Dave Reynolds and student paramedics, Claire Roberts and Iain Stewart.

Malvern Gazette:

Pictured above, North East Ambulance Service crew paramedic mentor Dave Reynolds and student paramedics Claire Roberts and Iain Stewart

GNAAS's Mr O’Donnell said: “The conditions were challenging to say the least and we initially had difficulty finding the family.

“But after driving up and down the road a couple of times we were able to locate them and inform the ambulance service as to their whereabouts.

“The baby had arrived shortly before we arrived so the hard work had been done, but we were able to check baby and mum over before the ambulance crew arrived and took her on to hospital.

“It was a lovely job to be involved in and we'd like to congratulate them on the new arrival.”

Proud father Mr Waring added: “We were really pleased to see the ambulance and the care we received from the paramedics and hospital staff has been excellent, really reassuring after what happened.”

Mother and baby were taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital, where Sienna Louisa Dottie Waring, weighing 10lbs 1oz, and Mrs Waring are being monitored.

Labour Ward sister, Anne Hodgson, said: “Daniella and Sienna had been in freezing temperatures so our priority was making sure they had skin to skin contact to warm Sienna up.

“She’s being cared for in a special cot which has a mattress filled with warm water so we can regulate her temperature.

“We have no cause for concern and they’re both doing really well despite their experience.”

Student NEAS paramedic Ms Roberts added: “I was concerned about them being on the side of the road in the freezing cold, but was very excited as it was my first potential delivery.

“It was a really lovely experience and it’s great that mum and baby are doing well.”