THE police are used to challenging situations but two officers were presented with an unusual one on Saturday ... when they helped deliver a baby in Wisbech town centre.

Police and community support officers Sam Dyer and Donna Thompson were returning to Wisbech Police Station when a man flagged them down in Lynn Road.

The man, who was shaking and agitated, told the officers that his wife was on the verge of giving birth.

Mother-of-four Donna said: “We pulled over, I assessed the woman, who was on the back seat of a car, and immediately saw she was in full labour.

“I asked how far apart the contractions were and she said all the time and she wanted to push.

“I tried to keep her calm and said I had four children of my own. I told her to pant through the next one that came but the baby’s head was beginning to emerge.

“I went to the other side of the car and asked Sam to call for an ambulance. I began preparing the lady for giving birth and then the head popped out.”

Donna noticed the baby girl was a bluish colour and the umbilical cord was around her neck so she unhooked it and asked the woman to push on the next contraction.

As the baby emerged, Donna cleaned her mouth and rubbed her back.

She said: “The baby started to cry and turned a lovely colour pink. It was all very fast and very surreal and it was quite emotional in the end.

“I couldn’t remember a lot of it afterwards – it’s like I just went into autopilot. I wouldn’t want to do it every day but it was great and what a Christmas present.

“Mum was great all the way through, even though she was scared, and Dad was ecstatic after baby was born.”

The baby was born at about 2.15pm. About five minutes later, paramedics arrived and then an ambulance, which took the healthy mother and baby to hospital.