A QUICK-thinking lifeboatman who normally deals with emergencies at sea had his resources tested to the full on dry land when his expectant wife went into labour without warning.

Thomas and Kirsten Ridsdill were at home in Craigendoran when baby Heather unexpectedly decided to make her appearance into the world.

Realising there was no time to get Kirsten to hospital, and with the ambulance still to arrive, Thomas - a helmsman with Helensburgh lifeboat - realised it was down to him to ensure a safe delivery.

And with the same calm efficiency he uses while on sea rescues, Thomas was able to deliver the baby minutes before the paramedics arrived.

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The day - December 28 - started normally for Kirsten, 38, and submariner Thomas, 40, who is based at Faslane.

With Kirsten six days past her due date, she had been at the Vale of Leven Hospital in the morning when everything seemed to be in order.

Thomas told the Advertiser: “I do remember the day well because I had also been at the garage in Helensburgh for my car’s first MoT.

“But as soon as we got home, Kirsten said to me ‘I think the baby is on its way.’

“I rang the Vale Hospital at 1.10pm to explain what was happening and was told Kirsten would have to go to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.

“At that point I said ‘that’s not going to happen’, so, with Kirsten in bed, I rang for an ambulance at 1.19pm.”

However, the baby was not for waiting and Thomas realised he had to act quickly.

He said: “Although I had been around at the birth of my other children, this was the first time I actually had to deliver a baby.

“The lady on the other end of the 999 call talked me through what to do. She told me to go and get this and that, and to do certain checks and a large amount of towels were required. It was all too quick to be honest.”

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Heather was born at 1.32pm and the ambulance, which is believed to have come from Arrochar, arrived two minutes later to take mum and baby to hospital in Paisley.

One unusual aspect of the birth was that Heather was a “caul birth” - a one in 80,000 occurrence - in which Kirsten’s waters had still to break and the baby was born still inside the embryonic sac.

Thomas said: “I used my fingers to break the sac from around her face as she emerged and she immediately started crying which was a good sign.

“The midwife at the hospital said a caul birth was a sign of good luck and that superstition has it that a caul baby will never drown - most appropriate given my sea-going work.

“As we didn’t know beforehand the sex of the baby, we had to wait until we got to hospital to find out it was a girl.”

Proud wife Kirsten praised Thomas’s quick thinking and calm reactions in handling the birth.

She said: “I was fine at the time of the birth. It was afterwards, when I realised she was here I had a bit of a wobble.

“The ambulance could not have got here any quicker and they gave me great support.”

In fact, one paramedic was quite emotional at attending a birth as earlier that day they had been at a death, so they had seen one life ending and another one starting on the same day.”

Thomas added: “It was a day to remember, not just for Heather’s safe arrival - but my car also passed its MoT!”

Heather is the fourth child for Thomas and Kirsten who have another daughter, Eilidh, 5, and two sons, Robert, 7 and Christopher, 2.