KEY POINTS:
A shocked South Auckland woman had to rip open her baby's amniotic sack in order to free her newborn daughter after a surprise delivery in the front seat of a car.
The girl was born on the side of Porchester Rd in Papakura at 12.30pm on Sunday while Fresia Waikato was making her way to hospital.
The 27-year-old said she had woken with the first signs of labour about 3.30am but the pain was not bad so she slept between contractions until her mother arrived.
She then spent the morning at her Manukau home, waiting until things progressed before making the 15-minute journey to Papakura's maternity unit with her mum and a friend.
"I waited at home on purpose so I wouldn't have to pace up and down the hospital ward while I was in labour."
Despite the fact that her waters hadn't broken, Ms Waikato decided just after midday that it was time to leave.
"I thought I would have a lot of time to get to the hospital but by the time I was at the top of Porchester Rd I was wanting to push the baby out.
"It was a shock to me. I still thought I had a bit of time.
"My mum was in the back seat and I told her I had to push. I just took my pants off and pushed and she was like, 'Stop the car, stop the car'.
"We stopped on the side of the road and baby's head was already out. Mum had to come around and hold her head and I pushed the rest of her out."
When 2.6kg baby Naed arrived she was still in the sack containing the amniotic fluids.
"She was born in the bag," said Ms Waikato, who did not have a midwife throughout her pregnancy.
"I didn't know what to do but all I knew was that it was unusual and I thought something might have happened if I didn't break the bag. It was a big shock for me.
"I had to pop it and mum had to hold her so she didn't get any fluid go down her throat. We had to just hold her like that and wrap her in towels that people have given us ... until the ambulance came."
When ambulance officers arrived they cut Naed's cord and took mother and daughter to hospital. Yesterday they were catching up on some much-needed rest.
Ms Waikato said she was surprised by how quickly her daughter was born, given that her two other children - a 10-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son - had taken their time.
She had thought Naed would take longer than she did.
She wanted to thank members of the public who supplied her with towels and blankets.
Hospital midwife Elaine Coppins said it was not unheard-of for babies to be born in the amniotic sack but it usually broke as the head came out.
