Father who delivered BOTH his baby daughters at home a year apart when paramedics didn't arrive in time says he was both 'calm and panicked' - and tied his first child's umbilical cord with a shoelace
- Electrician Matt Davis, 29, from Essex, delivered baby daughters Aria and Thea
- Wife Emma first gave birth in bedroom in July 2019 before falling pregnant again
- Paramedics and midwifes failed to show up again during birth in June last year
- Emma's first labour took just 45 minutes while the second birth took 17 minutes A father has revealed how he delivered both his baby daughter's a year apart after paramedics failed to show up on both occasions.
Electrician Matt Davis, 29, from Essex, was forced to help wife Emma deliver daughter Aria for the first time in July 2019 - using a shoelace to tie the umbilical cord following the 45-minute birth.
Emma, 29, soon fell pregnant again and went into labour again at home in June 2020, with Matt once again having to spring into action and deliver baby Thea in a rapid 17-minute birth. Appearing on Lorraine today, the father admitted he was both 'calm and panicked' during the labours, and even though he had 'no clue' what he was doing, he knew he 'just had to keep his cool and get on with it'.
Electrician Matt Davis, 29, from Essex, was forced to help wife Emma, 29, deliver daughter Aria for the first time in July 2019 before delivering second daughter Thea (pictured) in June 2020
Speaking of her first labour, civil servant Emma said: 'I'd been getting a bad back the night before but that was about it.
'That morning Matt had gone out to do the school run, he's come home and I was hanging the washing out and I started getting really bad shooting pains. 'We thought we had to wait a little while before going hospital and we just didn't get time for that. The midwives were saying it would be a little while, but it wasn't, it was 45 minutes.'
Matt confessed he was rattled but knew he'd have to keep his calm during the labour, and that he relied on the emergency dispatcher to 'walk him through' the birth.
Baby Thea (pictured) was delivered in just 17-minutes after mother Emma began having labour pains while hanging out the washing
'It was a very surreal situation to be in,' he said. 'I suppose I suppose I just had to keep my cool and get on with it.
'I didn't have a clue what I was doing to be honest,' he said. 'I was on the phone to a 999 dispatcher, she basically just walked me through it, and told me when to tie the cord and that was it really.'
Emma quickly realised she wouldn't be able to go into hospital to deliver Aria when Matt told the nurse over the phone he could see the baby's head coming.
'We sort of planned to have the baby in hospital, said Emma. 'We thought we'd be in a safest space in hospital.
Appearing on Lorraine today, the father admitted he was both 'calm and panicked' during the labours, and even though he had 'no clue' what he was doing, knew he 'had to get on with it'
The pair told host Ranvir Singh (pictured) how they used a shoelace to tie the umbilical cord during Aria's birth
'But once we were in that position I think I knew I wouldn't get to hospital, especially when the dispatch lady said "Can you see any blood?" and he said "I can see a head".
'I knew then, I'm not going to hospital, I'm having this baby at home.
Three months later Emma fell pregnant again, and told how 41 weeks later she began having labour pains while hanging out the washing.
'With that one I was having pains for a few days', she told. 'But I thought we had six days until the baby would come.
'I got up and had a drink of water, I had a really bad stomach ache and felt really sick and that was the start of labour.'
The couple phoned Emma's parents to help look after Aria and laid out a home birth care kit they'd been given by midwives case of emergency to deliver second baby Thea.
'I sort of knew what to do', said Matt, 'But there were different changes from last year. I said "I have a shoelace ready" and she said, "You don't need that".'
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