Baby Cecilia returns to her official birthplace - Chelmsford Ambulance Station

In November 2022, Alex Rowson was at home in Old Beauliea when she first began to go into the early stages of labour, but after being checked out at Broomfield Hospital, was told to go back home and wait until the next day, when she was scheduled to be induced.

However, by 4am the following morning, Alex’s contractions were coming too quickly, and husband Tim called the hospital to say they were on their way. They left their home but ten minutes into the journey, it became apparent the baby was not going to wait until they got to hospital.

“I said to Tim, you’ll have to pull into the ambulance station,” recalled Alex.
“He went to the door and rang the bell to see if someone could come and help. The ambulance crew came out to the car, I pushed, and one of them caught the baby. “They took her inside because it was cold. That was the scariest time, because although we had heard Cecilia cry and we had great help from the paramedics, we realised that we weren’t at hospital with all the resources a maternity ward would have. “However, they told me that Cecilia had done really well on the tests they carry out on newborns, and that she was just a bit cold from being born in the footwell. Alex was then helped from the car and mother and baby were taken by ambulance directly to the maternity unit at Broomfield Hospital, where the midwife team took over. After Cecilia’s first birthday came around, Alex and Tim decided they would like to thank the crew that helped them, and a meeting was arranged recently.
Mike Sage, the paramedic who delivered the baby said: “Crews at the station were delighted to meet Alex and Tim again and see how well Cecilia is doing. “They've adopted her as a kind of mascot as her birth certificate states her official place of birth as 'Chelmsford Ambulance Station'.”