I was petrified but a passenger helped me deliver baby on bus

A mother has been reunited with a fellow passenger who helped deliver her baby when she went into labour on a London bus.

Joanne Terry, 30, was going home on the No 145 in Dagenham when her waters broke. She had to have her baby there and then with Sharon Eve, a barmaid, acting as midwife.

Ms Terry's son Joaquin, her first child, was born just before 7pm on July 23 with no medical help, weighing 7lb 14oz. He is now doing well, said his mother.

Ms Terry, from Barking, paid tribute today to Mrs Eve, 47, and to the driver of the Stagecoach bus, Keith Emmery.

"Sharon was so lovely. She wrapped my son up in a cardigan and laid him on my belly until the ambulance came," she said. "I was petrified. I wanted to have him in hospital, not on a bus. I just wanted him to be okay. The driver evacuated the bus so I could have privacy."

She described how the drama began. "I was on my way home from shopping in Ilford and I was a week overdue.

"I had felt a few wriggles in my belly in the morning but felt fine. Sitting on the bus I heard a pop. I was lying by the steps at the back of the bus. Within two or three minutes his head was there."

The new mother said she was astounded at how rapid her labour was. She said: "Obviously with a first pregnancy I was worried about the birth. But my son was born within minutes."

Mrs Eve, who had been sitting behind Ms Terry on the bus, said: "She told me she could already feel the head so I just pulled down her jeans and the baby was there." Mrs Eve alerted Mr Emmery, who pulled over, evacuated the other 20 passengers and called for emergency help.

The birth took about 15 minutes, said Mrs Eve. "I have never known a baby come out that quickly."

Joaquin's is the second birth on a London bus. In October 2009, Emiloju Fatimah Lawal had her son on a No 394 in Hackney.