A couple from Blindley Heath in Surrey and their baby girl have been reunited with the ambulance crew who came to their aid and safely delivered her into the world.

Baby Seren Rose, weighing 8lbs 12 oz, was born to mum, Esther Ralph, 30, and dad, Anthony Ralph, 29, while en route to East Surrey Hospital on 2 July 2014.

First to attend the 999 call was South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) Paramedic Michael Bowles in a single response vehicle, closely followed by Paramedic Ben Sylvester and Ambulance Technician Christian Marler.

Seren Rose was accompanied by two-year-old brother Elias when the family met with SECAmb staff at Godstone ambulance station recently.

Esther, whose previous labour lasted close to 48 hours said: “I had been having labour pains since 3am that morning but Anthony and I were fairly relaxed and I sent Anthony off to work as normal, thinking our daughter was going to take a long time to arrive, given my experience with Elias.

"I even spoke with the midwife at the hospital at 6am and it was decided to wait on coming in.”

Anthony recalled: “I had been at work in Crawley no more than 20 minutes when I decided to call Esther to see how she was doing and she immediately asked me to come home.

"By the time I got home at 7.15am, it was evident she was in a little more than mild discomfort and after requesting I call an ambulance multiple times, I agreed.

"Given our previous experience, I had a moment of doubt as to whether it was that much of an emergency but I soon realised that Esther was serious when she requested an ambulance.”

Esther said: “I remember Michael arriving and coming through the door cheerfully but I was in so much pain that all I could think off was to get pain relief fast.”

The back-up ambulance crew, with Ben and Christian on board, arrived only minutes later and they prepared immediately to transport Esther to hospital, leaving dad Anthony to look after Elias at home.

“As we left the house at 7.45am we were convinced that Esther could get to the hospital in time for the birth”, said Ben, “but barely 10 minutes into the journey, this was clearly not the case and we had to make an emergency stop.”

Christian brought the ambulance to a halt in Byers Lane, near Blue Anchor Wood.

“I joined Ben in the back of the ambulance to assist and luckily there were no complications”, he said.

“We just offered reassurance and encouragement when needed and at 8.05 am Esther gave birth to her baby daughter.”

Ben, who in his 14-year career has delivered more than a dozen babies, said: “It is still quite unusual to have babies born in the ambulance, rather than at home.

"So it’s wonderful to meet Seren and her parents again and to see what a happy family they are. It isn’t often we get updates on our patients let alone have the chance to meet them again”.

Esther and Anthony were determined to thank the ambulance crew in person for their fast response and caring and professional help. They also had an outstanding question as to where exactly Seren was born.

Esther said: “Our daughter is doing so well, she is a very chilled out and relaxed baby despite her sudden rush into the world.

"To have had the opportunity to meet Michael, Ben and Christian means so much to us and has made everything complete. We now know exactly where our daughter was born. We are so very grateful for everything they did.”