Baby Samuel Wearing had an unusual birth in his own shower room, writes Andrew Ffrench.

Mum Pippa Wearing, 26, had not been expecting her second child to be born for another two weeks when labour pains started on Saturday morning.

Realising there would be no time to get to hospital, Pippa asked husband Mark, 30, to phone for an ambulance.

Two paramedics arrived at the couple's home in Swinbrook Road, Carterton, near Witney, at 7.30am and 15 minutes later baby Samuel was born, weighing 5lb 15oz. Pippa said: "I knew I wasn't going to be able to wait any longer. The ambulance control staff talked Mark through what to do. By the time the paramedics arrived, I was lying down in the bathroom and they took over from Mark." Mark, a car mechanic, said: "It was pretty nerve-wracking because I could see the baby's head while I was taking instructions on a portable phone. When the two guys arrived they took over and it was amazing how quickly everything happened after that. We didn't ask for a home birth but we certainly got one!"

A spokesman for Oxfordshire Ambulance Service said: "We were glad we could help."