A MIDWIFE was stopped by police as she raced to help a woman give birth at home.

Lou was on her way to help Sarah Sharps birth her fifth child but because of strict lockdown rules at the time, she was asked where she was going by officers ready to hand out fines to those flouting the rules.

But Leighton was born in a speedy five minutes on April 5, after Ms Sharps waters broke at four in the morning.

Luckily her partner, Hermes driver Peter O Sullivan, was on hand to help her deliver the baby on his day off from delivering parcels.

Miss Sharps said: “It was just crazy.

“I woke up at 4.30am with a bit of back pain and when I got out of bed my waters broke.

“We called the midwife but he had to deliver our baby on the bedroom floor and within five minutes our son was born.

“Now I say he only has Sunday’s off work – he didn’t that day as he had a special delivery to do!”

Oxford Mail:

Read more: your dogs enjoying lockdown

She explained that the midwife was too late to help with the birth, but that she waited on the floor with the baby wrapped up so that they could be given the once over.

Miss Sharps said: “She couldn’t believe how calm I was when she was giving me breathing exercises, but I was just really scared.

“It took her 40 minutes to get here.

“She was stopped by police on the way you know driving around at night in the peak of lockdown but as soon as she said she was a midwife the officer said ‘be on your way’.

“He (Leighton) was 999 – nine pound nine, nine days early – but we didn’t need 999 luckily.”

38-year-old Miss Sharps, who has given birth three times at home, has five children who were all born very quickly.

Her eldest, aged 23, was born in two hours and since then all her labours have halved in time.

Her second child, now 20, was born in one hour, her third, now 12, was born in half an hour and her fourth, now 11, was born in 15 minutes.

Oxford Mail:

Leighton, when he was a week old

She said since giving birth at the start of lockdown, it has been a whirlwind and unusually she hasn’t had to make any trips to the hospital, other than to a medical centre with the newborn to get some jabs.

She said: “It was a bit surreal.

“He was born at the start of lockdown and we’ve had no health visitors, my midwife Lou just came out to weigh him to put my mind at ease.”

Miss Sharps already had two boys and two girls, so wanted to keep his sex a surprise until he was born.

She said: “But I wasn’t expecting to be a mum again – we didn’t find out the sex and it was just a surprise; it was all really strange.”

Have you had a baby during lockdown? Send us your snaps

Mr O Sullivan, 40, who delivers around 300 parcels a-day around Watchfield and Shirvenham – near their home in Faringdon, wore a face mask to cuddle little Leighton in his first few days in the world, to protect him from any germs he might have caught working.

The couple, who last week celebrated 14 years of being together, say he was a ‘nice surprise’ with Miss Sharps adding: “He takes our mind off the world right now, he brings a joy to every day in lockdown.”