Room at the inn! Baby boy arrives ahead of time at Waterford hotel

There was plenty of room at a busy hotel for a mum-to-be when she went into labour.

Sarah and David Cuneen were staying at the family-owned Dooleys Hotel in Waterford city when their latest bundle of joy arrived ahead of time, on Thursday morning.

The Limerick couple and their three children had booked into the hotel as Sarah was due to be admitted to University Hospital Waterford yesterday to have the couple’s fourth child, but her newborn boy turned out to be a little impatient.

It was the first time in the history of the 70-year-old hotel a baby was born there.

The first signs of an emergency came shortly before 9am when reception received a phone call saying a guest was in labour.

Two hotel staff members rushed to the room and stayed with Sarah to make sure she and David, who works with Bus Éireann, were calm and looked after the couple until an ambulance arrived.

The Dooradoyle couple’s children were taken by other hotel staff to have breakfast.

Paramedics from two ambulances arrived within minutes and helped to deliver a healthy baby boy at 9am on Thursday.

The baby boy, who weighed in at 9lb 8oz, along with his proud mum are happily resting at University Hospital Waterford.

Waterford Ambulance crew took to Twitter and Facebook to congratulate the couple tweeting: “Great story for this time of year. Well done to all the staff who helped out prior to the arrival of the ambulance, which was on scene in approximately nine minutes.”

Dooley’s hotel said: “We would like to wish mum and dad Sarah and David, sister Emily and brothers Daniel and Ben our special congratulations on their new arrival. We cannot wait to meet this special little boy again.”