ANXIOUS parents feared their New Year’s Day baby was going to be born by the side of the A12 after a race against time to reach hospital.

For Patrick Hambleton and Amy Arnold, their New Year’s Day arrival was a blessing, with the roads mercifully clear of traffic as the couple raced from their home in Coggeshall to Colchester Hospital.

Amy, 38, said: “I woke up at about 7.30am when my waters broke.

“We thought we were going to have her in the car.”

Patrick, 37, said: “We had to abandon the car at the back entrance while I ran in to get the midwife.

“We were panicking about getting here in time – we thought that she was going to be born on the A12.

“Luckily there was no traffic.

“If it hadn’t been New Year’s Day and it had been a busy morning, we wouldn’t have made it in time.”

Amy got to the delivery room at 9.39am and daughter Holly was born just 12 minutes later at 9.51am.

Holly, who weighed 8lb and 13oz at birth, is now at home with proud big brother Harry, aged two.

Amy said: “She was due on December 28 so we thought we would be having a Christmas Day baby.

“I am absolutely buzzing.”

Patrick added: “I am amazed we’ve had a little girl.

“We didn’t find out the sex until the birth and we had a feeling it was going to be a boy.

“The midwife showed me we’d had a girl and it was unbelievable – she is perfect.

“She is the most incredible thing I have ever seen.”