Girl, 9, delivers baby brother

Jodie was given delivery instructions by the 999 operator

A nine-year-old girl from North Yorkshire has described the moment she delivered her baby brother after her mother went into unexpected labour.

Jodie Coupland said she was woken in the early hours of the morning on 2 October by the panting of her mother, Bev, who had started having contractions.

But with no time to get to the hospital from their home, the youngster dialled 999 for instructions on what to do.

Paramedics Brian Freeborn and Alf Pickering arrived to find baby Travis already born in the bathroom of the family home in Strensall, near York.

'Real hero'

Jodie, a pupil at Robert Wilkinson Primary School in Strensall, said: "I got the head out and my grandma, who had just arrived, got the rest out.

"It made me feel weird because I have never done anything like that before. It was the best day of my life."

Jodie said she feels she has a special bond with baby Travis and likes to spend a lot of time cuddling and feeding him.

Ms Coupland described her daughter as a "real hero" for acting so quickly.

She said: "I was busy screaming but she was so calm and just followed the instructions."