A baby girl was delivered on the side of a road on the outskirts of Kilkenny after her mother went into labour on the way to hospital.
The birth took place on Wednesday night in foggy and cold conditions. The woman, a mother of three, was driving from Carlow to St Luke’s hospital in Kilkenny shortly after 7.30pm when she started going into labour and hit a roundabout.
A number of passersby stopped, including Eamonn and Mae Doyle from Kilkenny. Mr Doyle, a retired garda, said a young man who had come upon the scene told him the woman was going to have a baby.
Baby girl
Mrs Doyle approached the car and found the driver’s door open with the woman driver lying back across the passenger seat. She told Mrs Doyle: “Get ready to catch my baby.”
Mrs Doyle said she put out her hands and the baby popped into her arms, crying out loud.
She told the mother her baby was fine, it was a girl and everything would be okay. They found a a blanket and wrapped up the baby while Mr Doyle phoned for an ambulance.
The ambulance crew took the woman and baby to hospital and although the child suffered mild hypothermia, the 7lb girl was reported to be safe and well on arrival in hospital.