'I was told to take a Panadol and go to bed, but I knew my baby was coming' — what it’s like giving birth in emergency circumstances

Births can occur in unusual places, especially when labour is rapid — yet while such experiences can be empowering, they also reveal how women are ignored at crucial stages in their pregnancies

Laura and Dave Callaghan with their six-month-old son Lenny in Lucan, Co Dublin. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Kirsty Blake Knox

Slip roads, ambulances, and motorways do not feature in most birth plans.

But for some families, delivery of tiny and very precious cargo can happen in places you never envisioned.