A newly-trained emergency call taker yesterday described how she talked a pregnant woman through a complicated breach birth over the phone.
Maria Spurr, 24, an emergency medical dispatcher with West Midlands Ambulance Service, had completed her training only two weeks earlier when she took the 999 call on Friday.
Gillian Bridgewater, 30, from Birmingham, went into labour at 39 weeks pregnant.
Ms Spurr said: "Her partner, who called 999, said the baby's feet were visible. That's when I instigated the breach birth protocol and began giving instructions.
"Both the caller and his partner were very calm. He got her into the right positions and she gave birth to a girl in less than eight minutes."
Ms Spurr, who is based at the emergency operations centre in Brierley Hill, said: "We do get occasional 999 calls for births but breach births are thankfully much rarer. This birth went well, despite the initial complications."
Ms Brigdewater's partner Kurt Hyett said: "Maria told us to stay calm and told us what to do. I would like to say thank you to Maria. Without her, I'd have been a nervous wreck."
Ms Spurr, originally from Lincoln, lives in the Dudley area and completed four months of initial training for her current role shortly before Christmas.
