Devon mum gives birth in Tiverton supermarket with help of shop assistant
A mum from Devon has given birth to her third child during a visit to a Tiverton supermarket, thanks to the help of a shop assistant.
A mum from Devon, Lauren Ewings, 27, went into her Tesco Superstore to buy paracetamol and cat food but within half an hour of entering the store, she had given birth.Lauren said she woke up on Monday (22 January) in some pain but had assumed they were false labour pains. After dropping her eldest child off at school, she made what she thought would be a quick trip to the Tesco Superstore in Tiverton. "As I was walking into the store, my waters went", she said.
"So I thought I'd take myself to the toilets to clean myself up and go home because my partner could just walk over and grab me and the car."But things were moving much faster than Lauren had anticipated. She had phoned her mum and auntie, who called an ambulance and the Tesco store to get help to her quickly.
A member of staff soon found her in the store's disabled toilets. They pulled up a privacy screen and got to work helping Lauren deliver her son, who arrived within just 30 minutes.Lauren said: "Id been on the phone for about 10 minutes and then five minutes later, Lisa, who works at Tesco came in and then two minutes later I crouched down and he started coming out.
"Two minutes later, I delivered the placenta and then about 15 minutes later, the paramedics arrived."I went in at 9:10am and he was born by 9:40am. It was really quick, especially because my two previous children were c-sections and this was my first natural birth so I didn't have any pain relief or anything. I never expected to do that on a Monday morning."The family have decided to name their newest addition Edward, who arrived roughly four weeks before his due date, weighing in at just over six pounds. Lauren says they have been having some tests but are now doing well.
"It's been a bit hectic and we've only just come out this morning because he was a little bit jaundiced and they were a bit concerned he had a heart murmur," she said. "But other than that, it's absolutely fine. He's technically four weeks early so he weighed six pounds two so he's proper dinky."It was a very unexpected day, considering it was my middle child's fourth birthday and it's the day after my mum's birthday as well."Lauren has thanked the staff at Tesco Tiverton, saying they were 'fantastic'.
"The Tesco staff were all in shock and really excited. We've got a couple of friends that work there and they were talking about it all day.
"They were brilliant, the staff were fantastic."