'I could feel the baby crowning in my hand': Woman delivers grandson on footpath

A Melbourne grandmother who delivered her daughter’s baby on the footpath in the middle of the night described the experience as “terrifying” yet “incredible”.

Theo Joseph Kanaris-Patten was born at 4am on May 2, on the footpath outside his parent’s Heidelberg home.

First-time mum Gabrielle Patten, 36, was walking to the car to take her to hospital, but little Theo couldn’t wait.

When Ms Patten was in labour, grandmother Moira Patten-Barwise, 64, was called to come quick. While it only took her less than 15 minutes to arrive, she quickly realised there was no time to wait.

“As soon as I saw her I realised she was in heavy labour. I said ‘We have to get going’,” Ms Patten-Barwise told Yahoo7.

But the family only made it to the footpath in front of Ms Patten’s home when the pregnant woman couldn’t walk any further.

“There was nothing we could do,” she said.

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After the operator told the grandmother to “check underneath”, she discovered Theo was ready to be born.

“I felt his head, I could see his head … I could feel the baby crowning in my hand,” she said.

“It was dark. I was doing everything by feel,” she said.

“I had my hands ready to scoop him up.”

Her grandson was born about a minute later.

“I couldn’t believe what has happened … It was a terrifying, incredible and miraculous experience,” Ms Patten-Barwise said.

“My daughter was amazing in all of this. She was incredible.”

Ms Patten-Barwise also commended Triple-0 operator Kathleen McVeigh for her instructions, with her calm voice guiding both women through the birth.

“She kept me in the zone,” Ms Patten-Barwise said.

She guided Ms Patten-Barwise as she checked Theo’s airways, moved the umbilical cord from his neck, and scooped the infant up in her T-shirt to keep him warm while paramedics arrived.

“She kept telling me I was doing a good job,” she said.

The elated grandmother said her daughter had “taken to motherhood like a duck to water” and added that little Theo was “thriving”.