The birth of" baby Molly

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Sept 9, 2003

Vicky Ford and her fiance Sean Ryan are celebrating the birth of their first child, Molly, who arrived just two days late.

Molly was born on September 2 at 9.55pm at the Wansbeck District Hospital, Ashington, weighing 6lb 6oz, and mother and baby are recovering well at the Berwick Maternity Unit.

Vicky, 23, and Sean, 25, of St Cuthbert's Road, Berwick, plan to get married in Australia later this year.

Vicky, a telesales worker, said: "Sean's sister lives in Australia so, hopefully, we'll get married there and as much of our family from the North East as possible will fly out there.

"The birth wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and was quite easy. I started having contractions on the Sunday but I wasn't sure if it was a false alarm, so I ended up staying at home until the early hours of Tuesday. Sean was on a night shift so I had to wait an hour and a half until he came home at 7.30am before I could go to the hospital.

"Then I went to the Berwick maternity unit and was then transferred to the Wansbeck. I'm back in the maternity unit now because I'm breastfeeding and they're helping me adjust to it.

"Molly is completely happy and healthy and I plan to take her home on Monday. It was my choice to stay here for a few days so people are around to help me if I need it. We're also waiting for Sean to finish decorating the house. He works nights as a security guard so it's been really difficult to fit in and he has had to do it all on his own."

Molly is second grandchild to both Sean's parents, Amanda and Adrian Putt, and Vicky's parents, Lynne and Robert Ford.