A Teynham mother has spoken of her agonising wait to discover if her newborn child had escaped a terrifying car crash unscathed.

Jack Tarvit was delivered after being induced a week early, but was rushed to intensive care with breathing problems.

He remained under observation at Ashford's William Harvey Hospital for five days before being allowed to return home with his relieved mother Joanne.

Jack was induced on August 30 after Mrs Tarvit, 28, of The Crescent, was involved in a crash on the Lower Road between Teynham and Tonge on August 26.

The Vauxhall Zafira she was travelling in with her one-year-old daughter crashed into a field after it was in a smash with a Mitsubishi van.

It left her fearing not only for the welfare of her toddler, Dolly-May, but also for that of her unborn child.

She said: "It was absolutely terrifying. All I remember was a big bang and the car being thrown into trees.

"There was a lot of smoke coming from the engine and I was terrified it was going to blow up.

"I grabbed Dolly-May and got out. A car driver who had been travelling behind us grabbed me in his arms because he could see how shaken I was.

"He sat us down in his car and that's where we stayed until the ambulance arrived."

Mother and daughter were taken to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham.

Dolly-May was released the same day, but Mrs Tarvit remained in care for 48 hours while checks were carried out on her unborn child.

"I was bruised and in pain, but also terrified for my children," she said.

Mrs Tarvit, who reportedly suffered a blow to the head and other minor injuries in the accident, said the trauma she and her unborn baby suffered led to her being induced a week early.

Jack weighed-in at more than 9lb, but suffered an infection and breathing problems.

He has now been given the all-clear, much to the relief of Mrs Tarvit and her 28-year-old husband Jack.

She now wants to see warning signs erected before the stretch of road where she crashed.

"It's not a massively blind bend," she said. "But it's severe enough to cause a major accident.

"There's been quite a few accidents down there and all three of us could've been badly hurt or killed. I'm just relieved this is all behind us."