10/28/01Baby born in less than an hour

by **Dark Blue** » Jan 29th, '10, 04:22

PLIMMERTON, New Zealand, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A New Zealand couple said their baby boy was born on the way to the hospital, less than an hour after the start of contractions.

Saskia Gernat, 30, said she felt the contractions begin Wednesday at about 4:15 p.m. at her Plimmerton home and she immediately called husband Alex, 31, to come home and take her to Kenepuru Hospital in Porirua, The (Wellington) Dominion Post reported Thursday.

Gernat said she and her husband made it to within a mile of the hospital before the baby grew impatient.

"I turned around and I could see the crown of the baby's head," Alex Gernat said. "By the time I ran around and opened the door, he was almost out."

Baby Benjamin Gernat was born at the roadside at 5:05 p.m. The couple said they continued on to the hospital, where mother and baby spent the night before returning home Thursday.