A woman had to throw her birth plans aside and deliver her baby on a motorway hard shoulder.
The Mirror reports that the woman was being rushed to hospital by her partner – but the pair had to pull over after the baby decided it couldn't wait to see the world. She gave birth on the hard shoulder of an exit road on the A13 motorway near Delft, between Rotterdam and The Hague in the west of the Netherlands, on Sunday afternoon.
Local reports say the delivery happened shortly after the pair's black Nissan Qashqai had pulled over to the side of the road. Footage of the moment showed the passenger-side doors opened as the baby was delivered; fortunately, a midwife is reported to have been following them to hospital and stepped in to help.
RTL reports that paramedics arrived shortly after the youngster was safely born. The tiny newborn was then wrapped in a blanket and carried from the car to the ambulance to be taken to hospital for checks.
The new mum was seen holding a teddy bear as she was carried to join her daughter on a stretcher. She shared a kiss with her partner before she was transported to hospital. Dutch news sites have shared photos and videos of the astonishing scenes.
District8 reported: "On the #A13 in #Delft a baby was born on Sunday evening April 16. The parents were on their way to the hospital, but the baby didn't want to wait. Mother and daughter were taken to hospital but are doing well."
Motorway births aren't common, but even Scotland has had its share of roadside arrivals. On New Year's Day in 2022, a mum gave birth at the edge of the M8 with the help of a midwife who heard her cries while out walking her dog.
Nicole Traynor, 28, was also en route to hospital when she felt a sudden urge to push. She was being driven to hospital by her dad David when her labour pains became so intense he had to pull over onto the hard shoulder.
With her partner and their two-year-old daughter in the car, Nicole was sat in the passenger seat when she felt the top of her baby's head crowning. An off-duty midwife was walking her dog with her daughter when she heard the mum's cries from the motorway bridge and rushed to help.
And last July, a woman gave birth in the footwell of her partner's car as he travelled at 70mph down the outside lane of the M65 in Lancashire. Lee Reynolds, 34, thought he had "plenty of time" when partner Natalie Whitton, 31, went into labour in the early hours of Wednesday morning with their second child.
As the pair were blasting along the motorway in Burnley, Lee watched in utter shock as his new baby 'shot out' into his Ford Fiesta estate. The dad, who was on the phone to a midwife throughout most of the journey, said he remembered thinking: "oh, s**t! We ain't going to make it."
Their daughter arrived weighing 7lb, 11oz, with the family immediately stopping in the hard shoulder to wait for an ambulance crew.
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