Water baby Felix Pounds knows how to make an entrance: the bouncing boy was delivered by his father and uncle aboard his parents' narrowboat.

Six pounds, four ounce Felix is the latest addition to the Pounds family home moored on the Oxford Canal at Wolvercote, in Oxford.

Also in attendance for the water birth with a difference, were two midwives, the family cat and and Felix's mum's guide dog, Grant.

Mum Kate Pounds, 29, who has been blind since she was a baby, explained: "We always wanted to have our baby on the boat, and it couldn't have been more perfect.

"I gave birth on April 27, supported on one side by my husband Nick and my brother Tom, and my friend Katie was there to catch the baby and hand him to me they all had jobs," she joked.

"Felix came out in a flood of water which sailors say is lucky.

"Garlic our cat was also there, and Grant my guide dog was too, for a time, until it got a little crowded in our little boat and my dad came and fetched him and took him for a walk.

"My midwives, Louise and Gina were also fantastic.

"They were fully supportive when we said we wanted a boat birth and even when our new boat, which is in the process of being built wasn't ready on time, they encouraged us to still go ahead with it.

"When it came to the delivery, they helped deliver Felix, but they also stood back for a lot of it and just told us what to do."

As well as a bustling birth party'on board the Pounds' boat, other river dwellers also played a part in Felix's birth last month.

Mrs Pounds said: "At one point I was hanging out the end of the boat, gulping air, with my brother timing my contractions, and people passing were wishing me luck.

"One neighbour thought my shouting was Nick and I arguing! And another came around afterwards with a bottle of Champagne, which we cracked open."

Now settling into life on the water, tiny Felix is gently rocked in his cot by the passing wakes of other boats.

"It's like he's always been here," said Mrs Pounds.

"We have a buggy with a special handle, that I can push with Grant guiding me, and we've been out walking along the towpath.

"And even though there's another member in the family, everyone is fitting in well on the boat."

Mr and Mrs Pounds met at Oxford University and married last September.

Mr Pounds, 27, is a PA at Oxford University Maths Institute.

The couple started living on their boat five years ago, for mainly financial reasons, but have grown to love life on the water so much, that Mrs Pounds' father is currently working to finish their new narrowboat, which will have more space for their expanding family.

Mrs Pounds was the first person in the country to live with a guide dog on a narrowboat.

No stranger to 'firsts', she was also the first blind student at St John's College, Oxford, swam for Britain in the World Youth Games and ran in the Youth Championships in Hungary.