A young mum has told how she gave birth to her premature daughter at home and saved the tiny baby's life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Amy O'Riordan was just 27 weeks pregnant when she went into labour. When baby Jessie popped out she was still in her amniotic sac and had no heartbeat. Her desperate mum immediately sprang into action to get her breathing by giving her mouth-to-mouth, chest taps, and pinching her nose.
Amy said she had not been feeling well the day before Jessie's arrival, and had woken in the night with the urge to push.
Speaking to the BBC, Amy revealed that seconds after Jessie was born, she had 'ripped the sac open' to find her babywas blue. Despite thinking she had 'already gone' Amy said she would not give in and did all she could to revive Jessie until paramedics arrived.
"Me and my partner Mark were in shock but he called 999 for help," Amy told her local paper.
"The call handler was amazing and advised Mark what to do. They advised him to open the sac but he was in such shock that I did this, then got Jess and started giving her mouth-to-mouth. I don't know how I knew what to do."
Rapid response paramedic team leader Colin Gibson from Redcar Station soon arrived at the house and said he was overwhelmed by the scene that greeted him.
"I saw a young girl with this tiny baby in her hands, she handed me the baby and said 'please save her', and my heart sank," he said.
He gave Jessie chest compressions and and some oxygen, and worked on her until the
ambulance crew and paramedics Michelle Trafford and Alan Barnby arrived.
Amy and Jessie were eventually transfered to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
"We got Amy on the stretcher and placed Jess on her tummy for warmth and so Michelle and I could keep giving compressions and assist respirations," Colin said.
When they arrived at hospital, a team were waiting in A&E for baby Jessie.
"Just as we arrived at the hospital Jess gave out a tiny whimper, it was looking more positive. I was just so grateful to the paramedics; they saved my baby daughter's life," Amy said.
Paramedic Michelle admitted she did not know at the time if Jessie would survive.
"We have met Jess and Amy again four weeks on and I am astounded, they both look so well. Amy was so calm when we got to her house that cold morning, she was brilliant."
Medics at the James Cook hospital told the BBC they do not use the term 'miracle' lightly, but that in this case, Jessie's survival truly was.