WHEN Tracey Ormond went into labour she thought there would be plenty of time to get to the hospital.
But within two hours of her contractions starting, little baby Joseph Leslie Clive Ormond was delivered by his shocked dad Les Ormond, 29, early on Monday morning – the same day Prince George was born.
Full-time mother Mrs Ormond, 25, said: “We didn’t plan a home birth. But we had no choice.
“It was dramatic but it was calm as well. After the adventurous bit it was chilled and relaxed.
“I doubt Prince William would have been about to do that if this had happened to them. I am sure there would have been a housekeeper who would have pitched in.”
The couple were at their Carterton home in bed at 1.15am when Mrs Ormond’s contractions started and continued every 15 minutes.
By 2.15am the contractions were every five minutes and the couple decided to call an ambulance at 2.40am.
But the operator had to talk Mr Ormond through the birth as Joseph was born in their bedroom at 2.49am before the paramedics arrived, weighing 7lb 9oz.
The couple’s eldest daughter Bethany, eight, helped by bringing towels and a drink for her mother.
Mother-of-three Mrs Ormond, who has another daughter Hollie, three, said: “I did not expect this to happen at all.
“He was a couple of days late. He was due on the Friday.
“My husband was absolutely fantastic. He took it all in his stride and did what the operator said.”
Production worker Mr Ormond said: “I had the phone rested on my shoulder and I was delivering baby Joseph at the same time, which was quite incredible.
“I didn’t really have time to think. I just manned up and got on with it.”
He added: “When we found out the Duchess of Cambridge was in labour I thought it would be pretty special for Joseph if they were born on the same day.
“I was quite proud of that and we will get our penny.”
The Royal Mint is giving away silver pennies to babies born on the same day as the Prince of Cambridge.
Mrs Ormond said: “I am pretty proud to be British. My family are quite Royalist.
“It is one thing we will always remember.”
Joseph was named after the church nearest to their home, St Joseph’s.
Mrs Ormond added: “The church is in the road where I grew up. We couldn’t call him anything else.”
Labour pains
Other unusual births in Oxfordshire include:
- Eighteen-year-old Sarah Willson delivered her own baby, James William Locke, in the front seat her Vauxhall Astra in April this year as partner Robert Locke, 20, drove them to Wantage Community Hospital from her home in the town.
- Dad Chris Taylor, 24, delivered his twin boys Alfie and Archie at his Chipping Norton home in January this year after an ambulance for his partner Rachel Biston, 26, was delayed by snow and ice. He was told what to do by a 999 call centre operator.
- Dad Stewart Morton, 27, delivered baby Harley Wayne Morton at home in Barton in 2009 when partner Louise Perkins, 25, went into labour three weeks before her due date.
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