A DOCTOR gave birth in the back of an ambulance outside her front door early yesterday morning, and her husband – a trainee paramedic – gave a hand.

As Dr Pauline Hill held her new baby boy at 2 am, her mother Jean, who was babysitting their other son Reuben, was inside the house believing her daughter had been taken to hospital.

It certainly was a night to remember for the father, Glenn O’Rorke, an ambulance technician currently being trained as a paramedic.

The couple knew the baby was due some time this week but it was possible that it may have been as late as Friday.

However, as they lay in bed at midnight on Tuesday Pauline’s contractions started.

Glenn said: ‘She’d had them before and we thought they might pass over, but as they kept coming every two minutes I thought I had better run her a bath.’ When he contacted the maternity unit, though, he was told to bring his wife in right away.

The new arrival – who weighed in at 9 lb 6 oz – has been named Dawson, and mother and baby are doing well at home.