A man has described the moment he delivered his baby at home after being told there was no room in the hospital for his wife.

Makeshift midwife Michael Terraforte, 32, stepped in to deliver 28-year-old Lauren’s baby after she went into labour.

The couple were told there was no room at the QEQM hospital in Margate and were left with no choice after baby Ayla decided there was no stopping her.

Mr Terraforte, of Stonar Close, Ramsgate, said: “Labour for our last child lasted 18 hours. Lauren started saying she was having contractions but I wasn’t worried.

“It was only when her waters broke I phoned Margate hospital and asked if I could bring her in.

“They told me they were closed and had no room so I had to take her to Ashford.

“I knew we wouldn’t make it to Ashford but I rang and they put a midwife on the phone.

“She asked me how often the contractions were as I thought they were coming every 10 minutes but when she heard Lauren screaming she said it was more like five minutes.

“My wife shouted that she could feel the head coming and the midwife asked me to go and have a look. Sure enough the baby’s head was coming out.

“I am quite a calm person and a dog breeder so had been in a similar scenario before.

“I delivered my baby girl at home and the ambulance and midwife arrived about 10 minutes later.

“We feel very fortunate that there were no complications.”

The couple named their daughter Ayla due to her being born on August 19, the night of the full moon. Ayla, whose name means halo of light around the moon in Turkish, arrived into the world at 2.30am.

Mr Terraforte said they had already thought of the name Ayla before any of this happened but felt it was a perfect name for her after her delivery.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust spokesman Steve James said: “The care of patients is our absolute priority, and that’s why we have strict clinical guidelines covering maternity procedures which we followed in this situation.

“In this case, the patient was in the very final stages of labour when we were contacted and delivery was imminent.

“On hearing of the situation, we immediately sent an ambulance and midwife to the patient’s address.

“It is unusual for a maternity ward to be full – but it does, on rare occasions, happen. If so, we will send an ambulance and a midwife to make sure that the mum and baby are safe and well cared for.”