Welcome to the New World, son

Elliot Wyatt couldn’t wait to meet his parents.

So keen was the strapping 3.6-kilogram (eight-pound) boy that he caused a commotion in a car park in Rolleston on Monday when he was delivered in the front seat of the family car.

It started earlier on in the day, when baby Elliot continued to prove resistant to the idea of making an appearance after 40 weeks and five days. With no sign of any action, mum Mel Wyatt was induced in the morning and sent home to wait.

Later, Mel and her husband, Pat Wyatt, decided to go for a walk to get an icecream.

While walking, Wyatt felt a few minor twinges but thought these were Braxton Hicks contractions – a false labour pain that prepares the body for labour.

At 3.30pm, Wyatt’s waters broke, causing her to contract immediately.

Timing with a phone app, Pat Wyatt was alarmed to record four strong contractions within a short period of time, and realised that Elliot might be coming quicker than they expected.

On advice from their midwife, the couple collected a bag already prepared for Elliot’s arrival and headed out to the car to make the 13-minute journey to the Lincoln Maternity Hospital.

Pat Wyatt reasoned he had plenty of time to get his wife to the hospital, particularly as their first child, George, arrived 40 minutes after his wife had begun pushing.

But they hadn’t even left the driveway before Mel said she felt the urge to push.

At the roundabout near their house, she announced that she had to push, and told her husband to pull over. He drove into the New World car park beside the road while frantically telling bystanders to call an ambulance.

‘‘I said to Mel, ‘Do what your body needs to do. Don’t fight it’.’’

With George’s car seat stuck in behind Wyatt, she was forced to deliver Elliot into his father’s waiting hands while in the front seat of the car.

Elliot was born at 4.35pm, just one hour after Wyatt’s waters broke, to the sounds of congratulations from concerned onlookers who hugged a dazed and proud Pat.

When the midwife and an ambulance arrived, Mel was taken to Christchurch Women’s Hospital for a small procedure before being transferred to Lincoln.

Pat said his wife initially suffered from shock but seemed otherwise fine.

‘‘She is just awesome. I’m so proud of her. She’s amazing.’’

Freshly delivered baby Elliot had to have his first ride in the car seat while Pat followed his wife’s ambulance.

He’s now facing a lengthy car

clean-up job he’s not looking forward to. ‘‘I don’t think we will have a third child!’’ he joked.

Of course, all the commotion was lost on Elliot, who slept contently most of the night, blissfully unaware that among the click-and-collect deliveries, he was the most surprising delivery of all.