A MUM-TO-BE who was trying to get to hospital during rush hour ended up giving birth in the back seat of her car.

Leanne Parrett, 31, was on her way to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital with her husband Sam when her labour reached the final stages just by the Dursley slip road on to the M5.

This was at 4.50pm on Thursday, October 11, only hours away from Leanne’s pre-booked induction appointment, set to take place at 8pm.

The labour was progressing very rapidly, with Leanne, who was 11 days overdue, feeling the urge to push as they were about to join the M5 at junction 14.

“Just as we were about to get on the motorway, I screamed,” she said.

“I was in agony and needed to push.

“Sam pulled over in the lay-by, literally metres from the motorway turning.”

Sam stopped in the lay-by and dialled 999, but two minutes later he was delivering his own son in the back seat of the car.

“I was squatting in the back seat and within two pushes he was out,” said Leanne.

“Sam said, ‘He’s here!’ and grabbed him.

“We were on the phone to the 999 operator, who said, ‘Ok, make sure he’s breathing’.

“But he started crying straight away, which was really good.

“So, at 5.38pm, baby Sebastian was here on the backseat of our car with only Sam, myself, and the lovely 999 operator to guide us through what the hell to do.”

The operator advised the couple, who live in Yate, to wrap the baby up to keep him warm.

“So Sam took his T-shirt off and I took my dressing gown off and we wrapped him up in those,” said Leanne.

A motorbike paramedic called Scott arrived on the scene within 15 minutes of the 999 call.

“He was fantastic, he checked Sebastian over and gave me gas and air, as I was still having contractions,” said Leanne.

An ambulance with paramedics Amy and Lloyd arrived very soon after and whisked the family off to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

“After a quick check-up, we were home by 1am,” said Leanne.

Leanne was also full of praise for her husband and the NHS workers who helped her through the birth.

“They were all amazing,” she said.

She also told of her relief that nothing had gone wrong during the birth.

“We were very, very fortunate that there were no complications, as it was just us,” she said.

“It could have been a lot scarier.

“I was thinking to myself, I can’t push the baby out now, because there are no doctors here.

“I didn’t trust that my body would know what to do.

“I was thinking, ‘What if he gets stuck, or distressed?’”

“But now I’m quite proud of myself. Labour is hard work at the best of times, let alone in the back of a car.”

Sebastian Bobby Parrett was born weighing 8lb 12oz.