A COUPLE were taken by surprise when their newborn baby made her entrance in the back of an ambulance.

When doctor's wife Caroline Taylor, 34, went into labour she thought she had plenty of time to get to hospital.

Little did she know that baby Amelia didn't want to wait that long and would end up being delivered by a paramedic.

Her husband, Andy, 37, said: "This was our third child and everything seemed to be going to plan. I thought I'd have time to take Caroline to hospital, but when she told me she wanted to push I called for an ambulance."

Paramedic Paul Jackson, 48, and trainee emergency medical technician Natalie Wilson, 26, quickly arrived to take Caroline to hospital.

But while the ambulance was on its way to York District Hospital, they were forced to deliver the baby themselves.

Natalie, who has only been in the Ambulance Service for two months, said: "During my training we were told it would be very unlikely that we'd ever have to deliver a baby, but when I checked to see how Caroline was doing and saw the baby's head I was a little nervous."

She asked Paul to pull over, and Amelia, who was 7lb 14oz, was born while the ambulance was parked at the side of the road.

Paramedic Paul said: "It all happened in a couple of minutes. We had to work quickly because the cord had got twisted around Amelia's neck, but she soon recovered."

Proud mother Caroline said: "If you had told me I was going to have my baby in the back of an ambulance I would have been really anxious. But the crew were fantastic and worked so well together.

"Paul even joked about being the first one to give her a kiss. They were great and I thanked them when they visited the hospital later to see how we were doing."

Amelia is now at home in Meadowfield Drive, South Duffield, near Selby, with her parents and five-year-old brother James and sister Charlotte, one.

Updated: 11:09 Thursday, October 03, 2002