Rush hour

It started as a regular day for Aberfeldy postwoman, Laura Murphy, who was on maternity leave, eagerly waiting for baby number two, writes Rachel Brennan.

‘It was all going really quietly. I’d had a few contractions during the day, I had a midwife appointment. There was nothing really happening at all,’ says Laura. 

It wasn’t until 4pm that things started to change. After speaking with the local ambulance service, they decided it was quicker to make their way to hospital.  

At 4.45pm, and only 10 minutes into their car journey, things started to escalate quickly.

‘Laura’s waters broke before we even got to the A9. We thought we’d have loads of time – we didn’t think of putting anything practical or useful in the car, like towels,’ chuckles partner, Jon.

It didn’t take long until Jon and Laura had to stop outside Perth Delivery Office, where daughter Freya was delivered at 5.35pm.

The happy couple both reminisce about Jon still in the driver’s seat, and Laura in the front with her seatbelt fastened, when Freya was welcomed into the world. 

The birth certificate even lists Freya’s place of birth as outside Perth Delivery Office. 

The family are particularly thankful to a young woman who stopped and provided towels to wrap-up their baby, even doing a call-out on Royal Mail’s Facebook page to track down who she was.  

‘We would love to say thank you. The fact she stopped to ask us if we were ok, was so kind. We had all the stuff with us for bringing Freya home from hospital. We just weren’t prepped for having her in the car!’ says Laura.  

Once Freya was safe and sound, the trio carried on to hospital where the midwives were waiting in expectation.

‘They asked us if it was a boy or a girl,’ says Laura. ‘I was like, I don’t know – it’s a baby!’

A big congratulations to the happy family.