Shropshire baby born by candlelight amid Storm Jorge chaos
A couple from south Shropshire had a big surprise when Storm Jorge caused a power cut and their daughter, Poppy, had to be born by candlelight.
Chris Wright and Sarah Broome live in Kinlet, near Cleobury Mortimer, and said being in the middle of nowhere when your water breaks and there is a storm raging outside, can cause problems.
However, instinct kicked in and Chris, 36, and Sarah, 30, delivered healthy Poppy on Saturday, February 29 at 7.46pm, as the smell of mango Yankee Candles filled the room.
"The original plan was to go to Telford hospital to have our little one there," Chris said.
"We were settling in for the evening when Sarah told me her water had broken around 6.50pm.
"I rang her mom, Tracie Broome, to ask her to come over because we have three other children, Jake, Lily and Freddie."
The pair had planned to go to Princess Royal Hospital but Chris said it would have been difficult because of road closures from flooding and they were very nearly cut off.
"After Sarah's water broke, I rang the hospital to say we were on our way but Sarah was already having contractions so they called for an ambulance instead.
"I went upstairs to get towels and help Sarah onto the bed. At 7.20pm the power had gone out because of the storm.
"I had the midwife in one ear and Western Power in another while looking to see if the baby was coming.
"At 7.45 the water went and Poppy came flying out at 7.46pm under candlelight."
Chris said it was an amazing experience delivering his daughter and they had luckily bought torches a few days before.
He added: "There was a bit of panic on mum's face because we are in the middle of nowhere and she was worried about the ambulance getting here and her mother getting over here.
"If you start running around like a headless chicken you are going to stress yourself out. The biggest concern was mum and little one's welfare, but Poppy was happily born under candlelight with a mango flavour Yankee Candle.
"We could hear the storm from where we were and the roads had flooded so getting to Telford was going to be tricky as well – lower Bridgnorth and the Telford road was blocked off.
"We felt like we were stranded in the middle. The storm was coming through the trees like no tomorrow."
The power came back on at 2am that night and Chris said Sarah and Poppy recovered quickly and are both doing well.
