Glasgow woman delivers her own 'surprise' baby Published duration 27 May 2019

image copyright David Johnston image caption Stacey Porter and David Johnston had no idea they were expecting a baby

A woman who didn't know she was pregnant has told of how she delivered her baby alone on her bathroom floor.

Stacey Porter, 20, thought she had a stomach ache. It wasn't until she felt the baby's head coming she realised she was about to give birth.

She phoned her partner David Johnston, 26, to wake him, but - despite 60 missed calls - he didn't stir.

So she gave birth alone in their bathroom and David woke to the news that the pair had a daughter, Sophia.

David told Radio Scotland that neither had any inkling that Stacey was expecting. Even the night before Stacey gave birth, he'd picked her up from work after she complained of feeling unwell.

He took her back to his family home in Grangemouth - where they were house-sitting while his parents were on holiday - but Stacey was up all night.

She didn't want to go to hospital, so David decided to sleep on the couch to get some rest before work.

Stacey said she had "no idea at all" that she was pregnant. She added: "I didn't have any of the typical symptoms".

She was still getting regular periods and even taking birth control pills.

image copyright David Johnston

It was just after 04:00 on 10 May when the "agonising pain" in her stomach became too much that she had to sit down on the bathroom floor.

Then she realised what was happening: "As soon as I knew her head was coming I knew I had to push - and it was a baby."

Stacey had been trying to wake her partner David, who was downstairs - phoning him 60 times.

"It was just ringing out, ringing out, so I kept hanging up and phoning again."

"When I knew her head was coming and I had to push, I stopped [trying to phone]."

Shock and adrenaline

Once baby Sophia arrived, the first thing Stacey did was take some pictures - having given up on trying to wake her partner.

It was shortly after Sophia had been delivered that David woke up and called the pair an ambulance.

He said: "I just stood there, staring at Stacey and Sophia. I put my head in my hands and I was just like 'Stacey, that's a baby'."

"At the meantime I'm shouting: 'Just phone an ambulance!'", added Stacey.

The paramedics were "a bit shocked", but took the mother and baby to Forth Valley Royal Hospital for checks.

Stacey and David named their 7lb 13oz baby girl Sophia Grace Johnston.

The family said their lives have "turned around straight away", and they are "still trying to take it all in".