A recording has been released of the moment a mother gives birth at home while on the phone to a 999 call handler.
Lucy Knight, 29, of Ilminster, Somerset, was shocked when she could feel Eli's head while going to the toilet, three months before her due date.
She and her partner, Dean Glover, 27, with the help of the 999 call handler, Lydia Gardiner, successfully delivered the 'miracle baby' within minutes.
Ms Knight can be heard saying, 'Hello, I've had him. He's breathing but struggling', after her nerve-wrecking delivery.
Eli, barely bigger than the size of his mother's palm, was rushed to hospital where he stayed in intensive care for 76 days.
Lucy Knight, 29, of Ilminster, Somerset, delivered her baby, Eli, three months premature with her partner, Dean Glover, 27, on her bathroom floor on July 12, 2018
Eli was barely bigger than the size of his mother's palm, and was in intensive care for 76 days where he suffered two bleeds on the brain and a partially collapsed lung
In the call on July 12, 2018, Ms Knight tells South Western Ambulance Service call handler Ms Gardiner: 'I went to the toilet and I was pushing and it felt like something was coming out.
'I can feel something, it looks like the top of the head.
'Hello I've had him. He's breathing; he's struggling though', before the baby cries.
Ms Knight said she couldn't bring herself to look at Eli when he was born in fear that wouldn't be breathing due to the sudden and unexpected nature of his arrival.
She said: 'When Eli was born, I didn't want to look because I didn't think he would be alive.
Lydia Gardiner, 999 call handler: Is the patient breathing?
Lucy Knight: I'm calling for myself. I'm 27 weeks pregnant and I just went to the toilet and I was pushing and it felt like something was coming out.
Gardiner: So you're 27 weeks pregnant and you felt like something was coming out? Can you feel or touch any part of the baby now?
Knight: I thought I could feel something, yeah. It looks like the top of the head.
*Break in recording*
Knight: I've had him!
Gardiner: Is the baby breathing?
Knight: Yeah he is breathing but he is struggling though. He's struggling to breathe.
*Baby cries*
Gardiner: Is he still breathing? Is he doing okay?
Knight: Yeah
Gardiner: Okay well done you've done a really good job there. Gently wipe off the baby's mouth and nose. Dry the baby off with a clean towel. Cover the baby's head but not its face, okay?
Knight: Okay. The ambulance is here.
Gardiner: Let me know when they're with you in the room... You've done a really good job Lucy, congratulations. I'll leave you with the crew.
'But he was breathing and crying which was a huge relief.
'I remember noticing how tiny he was.'
Eli weighed just 1lb and 14oz (846g), and being born at 27 weeks, would be classified as 'extremely preterm'.
Around eight per cent of births in the UK are premature, and 10 per cent in the US.
Of the births that were premature in the UK, five per cent are 'extremely preterm', which is
