Baby on board: Mum gives birth in back of a taxi on the M8

A mum who gave birth in the back of a taxi on the M8 has said she “wouldn’t change things for the world”.

Jayne Leck, 36, welcomed baby Aria Grace in her friend’s eight-seater cab during a 2am dash to the hospital.

Jayne and her partner Francie Quinn, 46, were heading to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Renfrewshire, when the tot made an early arrival near the turn off for Glasgow Airport.

Dad Francie helped deliver his baby girl who was born 16 days early, on August 20.

Mum-of-two Jayne said: “I was mortified.

“I kept thinking to myself ‘I can’t have this baby in the back of a taxi’.”

‘I don’t know a lot of dads who get to deliver their own baby.’
Francie Quinn

Despite the unexpected arrival, it was love at first sight for the besotted parents.

Francie said: “I was worried when she came out – she wasn’t even crying.

“I turned her over on her stomach and she started then and I wrapped her up in a towel.

“It was an unbelievable experience.

“I don’t know a lot of dads who get to deliver their own baby.”

He added: “Jayne’s head kept hitting the interior light and turning it on as I kept trying to switch it back off.”

Baby Aria Grace with proud dad Francie alongside taxi where the birth took place.

Jayne said: “It was like a disco coming right up the motorway.”

The couple managed to call ahead to the hospital so a maternity team was ready and waiting for them in the car park.

Francie said: “They cut the cord and the midwife asked me what we had – I didn’t even know at that stage.”

Baby Aria weighed 6lb 6oz when she was born.

‘I wouldn’t change things for the world.’
Jayne Leck

Jayne said: “It felt like 20 minutes between my waters breaking and the baby being born but Francis says it was two hours.”

During the pandemic, the couple had been volunteering in their community in Greenock, Inverclyde.

Jayne added: “It has been an incredible year, with the pandemic and volunteering, finding out I was pregnant and then the baby coming early and being born in the back of a taxi.

“I wouldn’t change things for the world.”