A cabbie found he had an extra passenger when a woman gave birth in the back seat of his taxi – Rhianne Morris, 23, of Caterham, Surrey said:
“I was on my way into work went I started having contractions so I phoned a cab.
“I was in the taxi for about ten minutes when the driver I think he was panicking a bit – said we weren’t going to make it to the hospital and he was taking me to his head office and calling an ambulance.
“We arrived at the head office and then I basically had my baby in the back of the cab parked in the street outside.
“I didn’t really know we weren’t going to get to hospital until about 30 seconds before she arrived – up until that point I still assumed we were going to make it.
“When I realised I was going to be having her in the back of a cab my first thought was for her health and if she was going to be all right but she is absolutely fine and that was a relief.”
She praised ‘amazing’ taxi controller Louise Hammond who helped her give birth outside the District Cars office, in Brighton Road, Coulsdon.
Louise, who was on duty at the office, rushed out and acted as an emergency midwife when it became clear that mother and baby were not going to make it to the hospital in time.
Rhianne and baby daughter Aaliyah, weighing six pounds and nine ounces, were checked by medics and delcared healthy after the rush birth.
Rhianne said: