As she walked back from nursery with her daughter Hailie, Serena Nicholls felt a few twinges.
Pregnant with her second child, it was her due date but she thought it was just more Braxton Hicks contractions.
But just over an hour later, she gave birth to her second little girl, delivering her herself on the bedroom floor.
Her kids’ dad, recruitment worker Mike Rolls, 26, and his sister Kerrylee were on hand to help as they realised the baby was coming fast, but it was Serena who delivered the baby as they talked to the paramedics.
Serena, from Newbury, Berkshire, said: ‘Mike was on the phone to paramedics, and Kerrylee was there too, getting towels and helping me lie down on my bedroom floor.
‘While Mike was talking to the emergency operator, who was telling him what to do, I reached down and realised I could feel Callie’s head.
‘I then got this rush of adrenaline and a huge urge to push and thought, ‘This is it.’ With one push, her head was out and with another, her body, then I reached down, picked her up and scooped her into my arms.
‘When I look back now and think that I delivered my own baby, I feel so proud of myself. It was such an empowering moment, and best of all, Hailie was able to meet her sister just seconds after she was born.
‘She’d been in the other room, but came in as soon as she heard a cry. It was such a heartwarming moment.’
It wasn’t even her first dramatic arrival – Hailie was also born at home before the paramedics had time to get there.
On the evening of February 13, 2016, she started feeling pains and suspected they were the beginning of labour, so went to Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital, just to be on the safe side.
On examining her, midwives found her to be 1cm dilated, meaning it was too early for her labour to be considered established – which, according to the NHS, happens after women reach 3cm dilated.
Advised to go home and try to rest, Serena said: ‘I was in a little pain, but it wasn’t unbearable, and I kept thinking, “Surely it will get worse, and that’s when I’ll know it’s time to go back to hospital.”
‘It was my first baby, so I had no idea what to expect. Little did I know, I was actually right in the middle of labour and would be giving birth very soon.’
In the early hours of the next morning – February 14 – she was struck by a sudden urge to push and her waters broke as she got up to go to the toilet.
Her mum Madalyn, 54, was on hand to help but panic set in when they realised Hailie was breech, meaning she had not moved into a head-down position, but was feet first instead.
Serena recalled: ‘Mum phoned 999 and the operator was trying to keep her calm, telling her what to do.
‘I was crouched over on the floor in the bathroom, and could feel her feet coming out of me first.
‘Mum then got onto the floor with me and, with the help of her partner at the time, delivered Hailie.
‘She was born at 2:32am – just 20 minutes after my waters had broken. The paramedics arrived about 10 minutes after her delivery and came running up the stairs with gas and air.
‘Then they saw me sitting there with a baby in my arms and said, “Guess you won’t need this.”‘
When she fell pregnant with Callie in late 2018, Serena was sure that, once again, she wanted a home birth.
In the days leading up to Callie’s due date – April 8, which is also Mike’s birthday – Serena had been feeling the odd twinge.
As the sensation was not especially painful, she assumed it was Braxton Hicks contractions, which are also known as false labour pains and occur when the womb contracts and relaxes.
But as the day progressed, the contraction-like feelings grew painful, so Serena had an at-home visit from her midwife where, at 2cm dilated, she was not found to be in established labour.
‘My midwife said to me as she was leaving, “Try not to have a baby tonight,” as she wouldn’t be on call,” she laughed.
‘As it was Mike’s birthday too, he had his family round that afternoon, and at about 5:30pm, I headed out to get Hailie from nursery.
‘On the walk, I had to keep stopping as the pains were getting worse. I said to myself, ‘As soon as I get in, I’m going to time them to see how close together they are.’
‘When I did, they were just two minutes apart, which meant I was almost ready to push.’
She ran a bath and called the hospital, who told her a midwife would be there in 30 minutes.
She continued: ‘I knew then that 30 minutes wasn’t soon enough. I grabbed a towel and went through to the lounge to get Mike and his sister.
‘They were amazing, helping me through to the bedroom and getting towels for me to lie down on. Mike was straight on the phone to the paramedics too, who I could hear telling him what to do.’
At 6:53pm that evening, Callie was born, with Serena delivering her and pulling her straight up into her arms.
Moments later, hearing the newborn’s cry, Hailie came through to meet her sister.
‘She had been in another room so she didn’t see me in distress or pain – she just saw her sister,’ recalled Serena.
“It was an amazing moment. She said, “It’s a baby”. It was so sweet.’
Just like with Hailie, the paramedics arrived minutes after the birth, checking Callie and Serena over at home.
Thankfully, they were perfectly healthy and the family are now looking forward to their first Christmas as a four.
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