The family of a baby whose life was left hanging in the balance after she was born in the breech position has met the ambulance crew which saved her.

Suzanne Ryan was 36 weeks pregnant when she went into labour at home in, Minster, Sheppey, on April 15 last year.

Mrs Ryan, 32, feared the worst after realising she might not get to hospital in time.

She said: “I had a scan that day and they told me I was having Braxton Hicks contractions and sent me home.

“They also told me the baby was breech and I was booked in for a caesarean a couple of weeks later. But later that evening the contractions were really bad so my husband Jake called an ambulance.”

The ambulance crew picked up Mrs Ryan and headed for Medway Maritime Hospital.

“They were concerned because the baby was breech but they told me if I needed to push, they would pull over,” she said. “We’d literally just gone over the bridge and I needed to push.”

The crew pulled over between Iwade and Bobbing.

Mrs Ryan said: “Sienna came out bum first and then her head got stuck for seven minutes before they could dislodge it. She came out blue.

“Sienna came out bum first and then her head got stuck for seven minutes before they could dislodge it. She came out blue" - Suzanne Ryan

“She went into respiratory arrest and wasn’t breathing.”

The crew started resuscitation and gave the newborn oxygen while continuing to Medway. By the time they got there, Sienna was breathing and they could hear a heartbeat.

Mrs Ryan said: “I just remember being so scared and, even more so, because my husband wasn’t with me.

"He had to wait for my sister to pick up our other daughter River and then went straight to the hospital. He passed us on the motorway without realising!”

Sienna was taken to intensive care where she stayed for 15 days. The little fighter is now 10 months old and is healthy and enjoys cuddles from big sister River, five.

The family surprised the crew at the South East Coast Ambulance Service’s annual awards in Maidstone last month.

The team – Medway paramedic Alexandra Hemsley, associate practitioner for Medway Mary Cutts, Sheppey technician Jerry Russell, Sittingbourne technician Paul Waghorn and dispatcher Laura Wren – received a chief executive’s commendation.

Mrs Ryan added: “It was so lovely to see them and thank them personally for saving Sienna’s life.”