Dad delivers baby on side of road - three years after delivering first child at home

A dad had to deliver his baby in the back of the family's camper van, after his wife went into labour on the way to hospital.

Incredibly, it isn't the first time Dominic Lister, 44, from Bingham, Notts, has had to play makeshift midwife having helped his partner Natalie, 37 give birth at home three year's previously.

This time the dad-of-two leapt into action after being forced to pull over on the way to hospital because of roadworks while his wife was having contractions.

The funeral director then calmly helped deliver his daughter Alice, who was born weighing 7lb 11oz, in the middle of the A60 near Nottingham on February 7.

The second-time dad, who has worked in the funeral business for 30 years, said it was special "bringing life into the world" given it was the opposite of his job.

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"It's certainly very different to my usual day," he said. "But I think being a funeral director actually helped with staying calm.

"My daily role involves me being calm and reassuring. It takes many years of experience.

“But helping deliver my own child is not something that I ever expected to have to do.

“To have done it twice is very special. I’ve been the first person in the world, for a brief moment, to have held them."

The couple's latest drama came after they tried to make it to Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre when the mum-to-be's waters broke at around 10pm.

Having faced diversions and roadworks Lister was left with no choice but to pull over at around 10.45pm, with Alice arriving 15 minutes later.

"It was Monday evening, and we were at home," Lister explains. "Nat was sat on the sofa and started having a few twinges. Jokingly I said: ‘Are you sure this time?’

“About 10pm in the evening, Natalie came in and told me that her waters had gone so I put everything in the camper van.

“We set off to hospital but a road was closed and we were diverted as a lorry in front of me went along at what felt like 10mph," he continued.

The couple stopped after getting onto the A60 to find it coned off, while Lister spoke to the workmen, his wife opened the door to explain that the baby was coming now.

“I thought 'oh no, here we go again'. It was just a case of keep calm and carry on," he says.

“An RAC truck pulled up and put his warning lights on to make sure we could be seen while the workmen were calling the ambulance team.

"But there wasn't enough time."

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Thankfully Lister says the delivery was smooth.

"It was just a case of keeping Natalie and the baby as warm as possible," he says.

"I upped the difficulty by doing it in the middle of the A60. I won't be doing it again though, this is the last one.

"The staff at the hospital jokingly asked if I wanted a job as a midwife - but I said I think delivering two is more than enough."

Lister had previously helped his wife give birth to their first child Eliot, now two, back in 2019, while a 999 operator talked him through what to do.

“With Elliot, Nat started having little twinges about 7/8 in the morning," he explains.

"I was at home and we thought ‘that’s it, he’s coming.’ It got to 10am and then we realised he was on his way.

“I rang the hospital and they knew we were coming. I put all the stuff in the car and came back inside.

“As we got to the doorstep, she said this is happening now. I rang an ambulance and explained the situation.

"It happened very quickly. The gentleman at the ambulance control centre talked me through what to do.

“Knowing the ambulance was on the way was good. He arrived at 10:50am and two minutes later the crew arrived.

“I was a little bit in shock and I never dreamed I'd have to do it again."

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His wife, a teaching assistant added of the unusual births: "It will be such a nice story to tell the children when they grow up, it's unique but definitely not what we planned.

"He certainly upped the difficulty this time. We were in the dark, in the cold outside, both trying not to panic and there was just nowhere to go.

"But sometimes needs must, and it was four blokes and an RAC man, and you just have to get on with what you have got to do."

Additional reporting SWNS.