Simon Harris delivers baby at home whilst waiting for ambulance

As Simon Harris battled to release the umbilical cord from around his daughter’s neck, paramedics were knocking on the door of the wrong house.

Luckily for Simon and his partner Sharon Maidment, he was able to loosen the cord and terror quickly turned to elation as little Millie Harris gazed up at her dad and took her first breath.

Now ambulance chiefs have launched a full investigation into the incident which comes just two weeks after a patients’ watchdog ordered them to improve response times.

The drama unfolded as Sharon, 33, who was two days overdue, began having contractions that were just minutes apart, at their home in Butts Crescent, Sholing, Southampton.

Knowing that the baby was in no mood to wait, the couple went to their tiny bathroom where they hoped help would soon arrived.

But it never came and in less than half an hour of the first contraction, Simon had no choice but to deliver their baby on his own, while their 17-month-old son Oliver was upstairs.

Thankfully, Millie was a perfectly healthy baby but Simon and Sharon know that had there been further complications, they may not have got their happy ending.

They are calling for South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) to review how paramedics were able to get the wrong address.

They do not want it to happen to another family.

For the builder turned midwife, the stress and the trauma of the unconventional birth is overshadowed by the joy and emotion of seeing his daughter open her eyes for the first time and bringing her safely into the world.

Simon, 41, who has three other children, said: “I will never forget the precious moment I saw her open her eyes and take her first breath. It was amazing.

“Words cannot describe the feelings I felt, it was so emotional and astounding to know I was the first person she saw. She is definitely a daddy’s girl.

“Thankfully for us, out of something so traumatic we got something so perfect, our little miracle, but it could have been very different.

“We want the ambulance service to investigate how this could have happened, because although the operator was telling us they were at our door, they were seven doors down.”

Sharon said: “It was very scary and when I heard him say that the cord was around her neck, I was really frightened, but I had faith in him, that he would get us both through it. He is our hero.”

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust has confirmed that they have launched a review into the incident which happened at 2.26am on Thursday but would not comment any further.

Two weeks ago the patients’ association said the time taken to respond to 999 emergency calls was “nowhere near good enough” and warned it could have “drastic consequences” for patients.

The association spoke out after SCAS’s rating dropped from “good” to “weak” in a review by the Care Quality Commission which said the service had failed to meet any of its 999 emergency response time targets.