Mum gave birth on her sofa with just two paracetamol because local hospital was full

A mum gave birth on her sofa and with just two paracetamol because her local hospital was full.

Eilish McKinney from Nassington, Northamptonshire, panicked when her waters broke on September 20.

She had planned to go to an NHS facility in Peterborough, but her and her fiancé Tom Blackman were told the maternity unit was full when they phoned Peterborough City Hospital.

The couple, who are already parents to Monty, two, were asked to wait for medics while a back-up plan was sought up.

After 40 minutes of radio silence, the pair were told to travel the 35 miles to Leicester Hospital as that was the nearest available medical unit.

The journey would've taken about an hour so they instead decided to improvise, the BBC reports.

Amidst the "sheer panic", Eilish took "two paracetemol", according to Tom, a commercial sales associate, and her son Percy, short for Perseus, was born safely at home.

Baby Persy was born safe and well at home (bbc)

"Tom became my midwife and deserves a medal for everything he did to help me through," said Eilish in a Facebook post.

"And thank you to the rest of the family who are helping and supporting us."

Eilish had to quickly check that the baby was breathing before clearing his airways, and was relieved that all seemed well.

She added that she had "the most amazing paramedics" turn up just minutes after she gave birth, and they took mum and baby to Hinchingbrooke Hospital for further care.

Eilish was told she would need to travel 35 miles to Leicester from her home in Northamptonshire as Peterborough City Hospital was full (bbc)

"For a night that turned into my worst nightmare, we have got the most perfect and healthy baby out of it," she continued.

"We now just need to come to terms with everything as it doesn’t quiet feel real what happened."

Young Persy was born on September 20 at 10:08pm, weighing 7lb 9oz.

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust said it was sorry to hear the birth didn't go to plan.

Her son Percy was delivered safely at home with the help of her partner, and checked over by paramedics who arrived ten minutes later (bbc)

Jo Bennis, Chief Nurse for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust which runs Peterborough City Hospital, said: “The safety of babies and parents is an absolute priority for us, and occasionally it is sometimes necessary to ask mothers to use alternative maternity units should ours reach capacity.

"This possibility is discussed with parents as part of their antenatal care and we work closely with our neighbouring maternity units to ensure women are transferred safely, including by risk-assessing all patients first.

“We are sorry to hear that for baby Percy’s birth, things did not go to plan for a hospital delivery.

"On behalf of all the staff in the unit, we send our good wishes to the family.”