Shoppers see baby born in car

A car became a makeshift ward as Sarah Dyson gave birth in front of bemused shoppers in Portland Road, Hove.

Her mother Pam was roped in as emergency midwife as Cameron made his way into the world ten days before he was due.

Sarah, 23, said: "It was over so quickly, I can't even remember much of what went on. Cameron just didn't want to wait.

"I know a lot of people don't like hospitals but at least they usually wait until they are born to make their minds up!"

Sarah's father Neil gave her a lift from her home in Payne Avenue, Hove, five minutes after the contractions began.

But by the time they had reached nearby Portland Road, Sarah knew it was time.

She said: "We'd only been going a few minutes. We pulled over and called the ambulance people, who told us what we had to do.

"It all happened on the front seat. I'm sure it was very uncomfortable, but it was all over so quickly - two minutes at the most. It was right in the middle of the shops. One man rang for an ambulance, not knowing that we'd already done so.

"Another woman came over and just said: 'Ahh, a baby', as if what had just happened was completely normal."

An ambulance crew arrived a few minutes later.

Cameron, weighing a healthy 7lb 7oz, was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and released six hours later.

Sarah, a gymnastics coach, said: "Mum was a star, absolutely magnificent. She was really calm throughout the whole thing. It was only afterwards that she seemed a bit shocked by what had happened."

It was all very different from the birth of Sarah's first child, Bethany, three years earlier.

She said: "Bethany took 12 hours to be born after the contractions started, completely the opposite to Cameron. It seems to happen in extremes.

"Bethany's glad to have a little brother and mum and dad are over the moon about it.

"Cameron's certainly made himself known since. He's what you might call a vocal child but he's absolutely lovely."