Expectant mum Liz Bird delivered an early Christmas present for her family -- her own baby.

Her third baby son, Joe, arrived two weeks early.

Without help from husband Kevin, who was calling the midwife, 32-year-old Liz gave birth painlessly 15 minutes after her waters broke at their Old Moulsham home in the early hours of last Thursday.

Liz, a branch manager for Reed Accountancy said: "Although the baby was not due until December 22, it felt as if it was not going to wait for Christmas, so I crawled into the back room -- and I had no problem giving birth to my lovely Joe."

Kevin, also 32, thinks Liz was "brilliant" and cannot believe how cool, calm and collected she was.

Joe, who weighed in at 8lb, was greeted with delight by his watching brothers, Charlie three, and 18-month-old Harry.

Early bird: Baby Joe with Liz, Kevin, Charlie and Harry.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.