ANTIQUES dealer Simon McKay turned midwife when his wife Lisa started giving birth in the bath.

Simon, 31, was putting the supermarket shopping away when Lisa shouted that her baby was on its way.

He ran upstairs and found Lisa, 30, sitting on the edge of the bath.

And just to complicate matters, the baby girl came out feet first - a breech birth.

Simon said: "I just told Lisa to push as hard as she could. After the second push we still couldn't see her head but on the third one she just fell into my arms.

"She laid still in my hands and didn't appear to breathe for about ten seconds, which seemed an eternity, and then suddenly started to cry.

"It was an overwhelming mixture of emotions - terror, relief and sheer joy."

The drama unfolded at the couple's home in Calcaria Road, Tadcaster, where the baby, Grace Monique, weighed in at 6lb 9oz.

Simon said: "We went to York Hospital when Lisa went into labour, but decided to return home after being told it could be another 48 hours before the baby was born.

"Lisa was by now in a lot of pain. The contractions were getting stronger and she shouted to me that the baby was on its way.

"I ran upstairs and after delivering Grace Monique rang 999. They told me to keep mother and baby warm and not to touch the umbilical cord.

"We then sat on the bathroom floor while the ambulanceman gave the baby a whiff of oxygen."

The couple married two years ago in Sydney after meeting while Simon was backpacking.

Lisa, from Brisbane, said: "Simon stayed very calm and did a fantastic job."

Updated: 10:36 Tuesday, September 02, 2003