A VOLUNTEER RNLI Barry Dock lifeboat crew member put his response skills into action when he delivered his son in his car’s front seat.

Chris White welcomed his second son into the world on Friday, August 9

Mr White, a crew member at Barry Dock lifeboat station for around two and a half years and British Gas engineer, exercised midwife skills when wife Nicole’s contractions increased on the way to hospital.

Her contractions had started at around 10am on Friday, August 9, but hospital medical staff decided she wasn’t ready to give birth.

Mrs White carried on with her day until the contractions became more intense and were hard to ignore.

By around 12.30pm she was in quite a lot of pain and discomfort so the couple decided to head for the hospital.

While the couple were on the way to hospital she said: “I need to push”, from the passenger seat of the car.

Mr White pulled over, parking the car across a driveway in a busy residential area.

He had completed casualty care training with the RNLI, which means he is capable of dealing with certain injuries or illnesses and can use various pieces of lifesaving equipment.

But delivering a child is something he hadn’t faced before, so he dialled 999.

Emergency services told him to check for signs of the baby’s head, which soon appeared.

Baby Noah was then born, straight into the arms of his delighted parents.

The nurse on the phone told him to cover Noah in a towel or blanket, but as there were none in the car, he took off his shirt and Noah was wrapped up in it.

Mr White was also advised to take off one of his shoelaces to act as a clamp for the umbilical cord.

But the paramedics arrived at this point, checked over mother and baby, and found they were both safe and well, before they were taken to hospital for further checks.

Mr White said: “The day had gone from calm to chaos.

“One minute we were being told to stay at home and relax, and the next Nicole was in labour in the front seat of the car.”

The couple had not expected such a speedy birth because Mrs White was in labour for 36 hours with her first son Reuben, who is now two years old.

After the couple shared the happy news with their friends and family, it was discovered that while Mrs White was in labour in the parked car, people had unknowingly driven past, including Mr White’s auntie and a work colleague.

Mr White added: “It was a truly incredible experience to have delivered my own son into the world, however it’s not a situation I’d like to be in again.”

The proud parents took their two young sons, Noah and Reuben, to Barry Dock lifeboat station on Tuesday, August 13 to meet the other volunteers.