Woman goes into labour while stranded in floods

A PREGNANT woman who went into labour while stranded in a car on the flooded M5 motorway has been taken to hospital.

Paramedics spent four-and-a-half hours battling through 3ft-deep water to get the woman, in her 20s, to hospital on time.

She was travelling with her family near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, early on Saturday when their car came to a standstill in large tailbacks.

An ambulance, which had been treating another patient nearby, was flagged down by the woman’s family, but became stuck in standing flood water. A lorry pulled the vehicle out, and the woman, from the Manchester area, was taken to Cheltenham General Hospital just in time.

Paramedic Paul Reeves said: “We faced extreme difficulties in getting the woman to the hospital. The weather conditions were extremely dangerous and the help from the HGV driver and the Highways Agency was greatly appreciated.

“Despite being in at least 3ft of water at one point, we managed to battle through extraordinary circumstances and eventually arrived at the hospital before the woman went into full labour. It was an extremely eventful job and we are pleased that we could get the woman into the hospital before she gave birth."