A FIRST-time mum has told of her gratitude to two hero paramedics, after giving birth to her son prematurely at home while in lockdown. 

After having her original home-birthing plans cancelled due to the Covid lockdown, Natalie was preparing to attend the hospital in May to deliver, with no clue if anyone would be able to attend with her. 

However, at only eight months, Natalie gave birth to her son Oliver on April 7th and got her wish of a home-birth, although not in the way she had imagined it. 

READ MORE: Smithycroft Secondary pupil Mia leaves lasting impression on Glasgow

Natalie is now calling on her hero paramedics, who helped to create “a magical experience” at such an anxious time.

Glasgow Times: Oliver, Natalie's son, was born on April 7th 2020.Oliver, Natalie's son, was born on April 7th 2020.

Natalie, 24 from Bridgeton, said: “On the Sunday, I became really, really unwell. We spoke to the hospital and they said that it was a urine infection so off I went with some antibiotics. 

“I never felt any better for it and finally my partner put his foot down and told me to phone the hospital again. 

“When I did, the nurse was asking me if my water’s had broke and the minute she said that, they broke there and then, it was like something out of a movie!"

Glasgow Times:

The early labour panicked the young couple, with Natalie saying that, as she was only eight months along, they had nothing prepared to go into hospital.

She said: “We were running around trying to get things sorted - I was fairly lucky because at that point my contractions were very spread out. 

“Eventually I told my partner that I had to go to the bathroom but I couldn’t help but bear down. 

Glasgow Times:

“Of course he started panicking because he couldn’t get my mum on the phone and I was in the bathroom so I just said that I was sitting there because I was comfy. 

“However, when I went to check, I could feel the baby’s head right there and that’s when I started to panic because it was too late to go to the hospital.”

Natalie’s partner, Stephen, phoned 999 and was told that paramedics were on their way and given instructions to deliver their baby in their home. 

READ MORE: Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre hits out at packed London Palladium

Natalie said: “The poor call handler had to calm us down, we were all over the place. 

“Of course I had planned for a home-birth originally but this was nothing like what we wanted - we had no professionals there with us and we were panicking.”

Paramedics from Glasgow South, Shaun Cairns and Lynne Ruthven, arrived at their home shortly after Stephen’s call. 

She said: “When they first arrived, they thought I might have made it to the hospital on time but by that point my contractions were not spread out anymore and were more or less constant.

“The paramedics made it four minutes before Oliver was born and my mum, who we finally got on the phone, made it two minutes before he was born.

“As soon as the paramedics got there, there was an air of calm and they took complete control. 

“I can’t describe how relaxed they made the experience suddenly feel, especially because we were panicking so much beforehand.”

Shaun and Lynne guided Natalie through the last stretch of the 71 minute labour, delivering Oliver at 4:13am. 

Natalie said: “It wasn’t the birth that we had planned, far from it. But thanks to the paramedics, they made it feel as safe as possible. 

“I really can’t say it enough, I’m unbelievably thankful that they gave us this magical experience. 

“I remember Lynne saying that they really didn’t do much by the time that they got there, but they don’t realise how special they made that experience for us.”

And while Oliver is now growing up in a lockdown world, Natalie says that the birth is something that they’ll hold close forever.

She said: “The reason we originally planned for the home-birth was so that I could have people there. 

“This option was taken away from us when lockdown started so we did get our wish of a home-birth in a way.

“Because he was born in lockdown, we had the first few weeks of Oliver’s life restricted, but I’ll always have the memory of the birth thanks to Lynne and Shaun.”