The mother of a cancer patient has become the first woman to give birth at the world-famous Great Ormond Street children's hospital.
The 157-year-old central London hospital treats sick babies and children but does not have a maternity unit, and there are no records of children ever having been born there.
Baby Zac decided to arrive while his mother Nicola Tyler, 32, was staying with her six-year-old daughter Kelly, who is having treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma there.
Before she left home for Kelly's nine-day stint, Nicola, from Canvey Island, Essex, told her partner Dave Abbott: "I'm scared I'm going to have him up there."
Her fears came true four days later when she went into labour on Elephant ward.
Ward sister Sue Snaith, a Territorial Army major who is off to Afghanistan for three months, may have tempted fate when she told Nicola she was upset she would not see the baby until she came back.
Little did she realise that the next day she would be holding her hand as Zac arrived in his sister's hospital room.
When Nicola went into labour, GOSH ward staff called the maternity team at nearby University College London Hospital.
With contractions more than 30 minutes apart, she was told to lie down and not to worry.
"I went and took a warm bath and lay on the bed in Kelly's room, but within a matter of minutes my contractions had become stronger and more frequent," Nicola said.
Intensive care senior staff nurse Caroline Kanyanga, who is also a qualified midwife, delivered Zac with the help of clinical site practitioner Mike Wise and clinical nurse specialist Ailish Barry as the paramedics arrived.
"One minute there was Kelly, Sue and a couple of play nurses, the next minute I had him and there was 24 people!" Nicola said.
Kelly, who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in her neck in June and is making steady progress, was reluctant to leave her mother while she was in labour but, at Nicola's request, was taken into a side room before Zac was delivered.
"Kelly was really good but I thought that she's had enough trauma in her life," she said. "She was pretty nervous."
When Kelly was brought back in to see Zac, Nicola said: "Her smile said everything.
"She was really pleased, calling all the nurses in, saying 'Come and see my brother'."
Dave, 38, who had been waiting at home for a pram to be delivered, set off for the hospital when Nicola went into labour but arrived around 10 minutes too late to see his son make his grand entrance.
Nicola's oldest daughter Chloe, nine, was also at home.
source: news.sky.com
The mother of a cancer patient has become the first woman to give birth at the world-famous Great Ormond Street children's hospital. 
