AN ‘incredibly squeamish’ husband was forced to deliver his own baby when his wife went into labour on the living room floor.

Mark Bushell, 48, and his wife Hannah, 30, had planned a hospital birth but were unable to even leave the house before baby Finley arrived.

“If anyone told me beforehand I would have to deliver my own baby I would have run a mile,” said Mr Bushell, who works at The Brathay Trust in Ambleside.

“I’m usually the kind of person who watches Casualty from behind the settee.”

Mrs Bushell’s contractions began at about 4am but when she called the hospital she was told to have a warm bath and wait until they got more painful.

“When we rang back later they told us to come in but to take our time because they were quite busy.

"We didn’t realise it would all be so quick,” said Mr Bushell, who lives with his family in Preston.

“I managed to get Hannah downstairs and almost in the car but she was in too much pain to move properly so we went back inside and called for an ambulance.”

It wasn’t until Mr Bushell spoke to an emergency services operator that he realised he would have to play the role of midwife.

“I was in panic mode and told the operator ‘I’m not happy delivering it on my own’,” he said.

“I’m incredibly squeamish but we both went into autopilot.

"Hannah was concentrating on delivering and was concentrating on catching and making sure I didn’t drop him.

“It was all so quick. The head popped out and before I knew it Finley was born.

“All of a sudden the paramedics walked in and saw me holding the baby. They even looked quite shellshocked themselves!”

Mrs Bushell was in labour for just 90 minutes and baby Finley was born at 6.25am.

“By 8.30am we were all on a real high. Hannah was up and about and we were having a cup of tea on the sofa,” he said.

“We are so happy and it has given us all a special bond.”