A MUM has admitted being "incredibly lucky" after a high tide forced her to give birth at home.

Emergency services including the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance were called to the scene after Leander Trunks went into labour on Mersea Island.

She could not be taken to hospital because the tide was covering The Strood.

Husband Daniel was about to deliver the baby when help arrived in the nick of time.

"I can't begin to say how grateful we are to the emergency services, who were brilliant and unbelievably helpful," said Mrs Trunks, 35.

"I'd had back pains a couple of days before but they soon disappeared, so I didn't think much about it.

"Then I had another twinge on the day and that's when we phoned the hospital to say we would have to come in, when the tide was down.

"At that point, I wasn't really panicking but the pain quickly got worse and my waters broke when I was upstairs in our bathroom.

"I couldn't move and that's when all hell broke loose."

Olivia arrived two days early on April 8, weighing 6lb 13oz.

She is Mr and Mrs Trunks' second child as they also have six-year-old son, Joseph.

Ironically, the couple were celebrating their seventh anniversary.

"It was certainly a dramatic entrance to the world and quite a way for us to celebrate our anniversary," added Mrs Trunks, who lives in High Street and works at Mersea's Mulberry Bush Montessori Nursery.

"When Joseph was born, there were a few complications so I did have a moment of panic.

"But my husband was great and went into fight or flight mode.

"Things moved quickly and he was preparing to deliver the baby on our landing.

"I reckon I was two pushes from giving birth and that's when the emergency services burst in, right in the nick of time.

"They sent out first responders, paramedics and even the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.

"The RNLI were called, too, but they stood down when they knew other emergency crews were available.

"The air ambulance team arrived first, with the first responders, and they were the ones that helped deliver Olivia.

"They couldn't cut the umbilical cord until I was in the ambulance, though, so I had to get downstairs with my baby still attached.

"In the end, everything happened very quickly and the whole thing probably only lasted a couple of hours.

"Parts are slightly hazy in my mind but I remember most of what happened - and certainly won't forget it.

"Olivia is absolutely adorable and we were incredibly lucky."