A BABY was brought into the world by special delivery - her grandmother and father.

Lorraine Hamer, 45, and Martin Bottomley, 25, took instructions over the phone from the ambulance service to help Lorraine's daughter and Martin's girlfriend Susan Hamer, 23, deliver Libby Marie Bottomley.

Libby Marie was born five days early at 11.35am, weighing 5lb 12oz on Tuesday.

Susan was having contract-ions every three to five minutes and the hospital said to ring back in an hour when they were three minutes apart.

But she gave birth within 45 minutes in the bedroom of the family's home in Rothesay Road, Shadsworth, Blackburn.

Lorraine said: "Martin rang 999 and the lady I was talking to there was telling me what to do. Her waters had broken and they asked if I could see baby's head and Martin shouted he could see it.

"Then I saw the head come through and with another push the body came through as well.

"The ambulance lady was telling me to wrap her up in a towel. We started crying and laughing at the same time."

Susan had woken up with some pain but dropped her four-year-old son Tommy-Lee Ruddick off at school and carried on to her mum's in Ballantrae Road, where she had a bath. She knew she was going into labour so rang Martin to come home from work and went home with her mum to get her bag for hospital.

But when she arrived the contractions were getting stronger and her waters broke.

Martin, an office worker for office supplies company Oyez Straker, came home to find Susan in pain in her bedroom and called for an ambulance.

Susan said: "I didn't want to go straight into hospital when the pains began but three hours later the pains were stronger and they said to wait.

"I was scared once I knew I had to push. My mum was on the phone as Libby's head came out and she held her head and Martin was grabbing her body. They both did their fair share."

Martin said: "I got to work and then Susan phoned to say come home' so I sped off from work and when I got home she was on her hands and knees in agony.

"I called the hospital. A lady talked me through it and when I got scared I just handed the phone to Lorraine.

"I can't believe it. It didn't sink in until the next day that I'd helped deliver the baby. It wasn't real. I wouldn't want to do it again."

Libby Marie was delivered in half an hour. The ambulance arrived five minutes after she was born and took mother and baby to hospital where they stayed overnight.

Lorraine added: "I want to say a big thank you to the ambulance lady on the phone. She was brilliant."