Aylsham man delivers baby in the bath!

Baby Frankie William Hewitt didn’t waste any time when he decided it was time to arrive in the world.

Luckily proud dad Martin, from Aylsham, was on hand to help deliver his new son, at home in the bath.

The drama began on Tuesday evening when mum Tina Cole’s waters broke at 9.15pm. “There were no contractions so the hospital advised me to take a paracetemol, have a bath and try and get some sleep,” she said. But Frankie had other ideas. Once contractions had started they progressed quickly until Tina had the urge to push, still in the bath. Martin said: “We let the water out as there was no moving her by that time.”

Grandma Beryl Welch was on hand to talk to the midwife on the phone while Martin delivered the baby, who came out at a healthy 7lb 3oz.

“It was a scary experience but it is the best thing I have ever done,” said Martin, who works as a chef in Cromer. He even had to make sure the cord was released from around the baby’s neck. “It focuses the mind but I did panic afterwards,” he added.

Amazingly, their other son, two-year-old Charlie slept through the whole thing, despite a few screams from Tina.

Frankie was due on Friday. “We hadn’t even packed a bag as Charlie was a week late,” said Tina, who works in Martins in Aylsham.

Beryl said she was happy but shell-shocked to have been witness to the surprise home birth. “I live in Nottinghamshire and had come down to welcome the arrival baby when he came home from hospital, I wasn’t expecting to help deliver him but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” she said.

The ambulance arrived in time to cut the cord and deliver the placenta, then take mum and baby to hospital for a check-up. They were back home in Town Lane, Aylsham, by 7am the next morning.

Happy families after baby Frankie’s early arrival drama.