Two mothers gave birth to their babies on the way to hospital at the weekend — within hours of one another.

Susie Thompson had a sudden and dramatic labour outside Butterfield Bank on Front Street in the early hours of Sunday, as husband Ian drove her to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Their son Alexander arrived at 3.10 a.m. in the back of their silver Peugeot, as late-night revellers unwittingly wandered past.

A little more than five hours later it was the turn of Megan and Stephen Troake, whose daughter Sydney Faye appeared almost as swiftly in the front of their white Chevrolet at Shark Hole on Harrington Sound Road.

Both bundles of joy weighed exactly the same — 6 lbs 13oz — and both are thriving at KEMH after their unusual entrance into the world.

Mrs. Thompson, 38, was due to give birth yesterday but started having contractions at home in Pembroke at about 6 p.m. on Saturday.

She and her husband, also 38, left their two sons — James, five, and Charlie, three — with friends and went to the hospital at about 1 a.m. Sunday.

A check revealed that Mrs. Thompson wasn't dilated and she was advised to go home and rest. She did but several painful contractions soon convinced her to head back to hospital.

"I sat kneeling on the back seat looking backwards," she said. "When the contractions come, it's better than sitting down.

"We got to the middle of Front Street outside the Bank of Butterfield. I said 'stop the car' because I had a contraction. The next thing I knew the waters had broken and the head had come out.

"I said to my husband 'the baby is coming.' He started to drive. I said 'no, you need to get out of the car and deliver it.' He ran round. Literally, he pulled my trousers down and there was Alexander."

Mrs. Thompson said her husband, an underwriter at Hiscox Insurance Company, caught their son in his hands. "He said it was like catching a cricket ball. I took my cardigan off and we wrapped him up."

Passersby called an ambulance and an off-duty Canadian fireman took off his sweatshirt to wrap around Alexander.

The couple, from London, waited for paramedics to arrive as a crowd gathered around the car. Police dispersed the onlookers, to Mrs. Thompson's relief.

"I felt calm," she said. "I knew it was all right and I knew the ambulance was only up the road. I knew to wrap him up and keep him warm and not cut the cord.

"They [the paramedics] cut the cord at the scene and then got me out onto a stretcher. People were clapping."

Mrs. Troake, who works in the development office at Somersfield Academy, was due to give birth on Friday but her labour didn't start until Sunday morning.

She and her husband, both aged 29, dropped off 19-month-old son Matthew at Mrs. Troake's mother's house and set off for KEMH from their St. George's home.

Mrs. Troake's waters had broken so they knew there was little time to waste as they drove along Kindley Field Road with their hazard lights on at about 8.30 a.m.

Mr. Troake, an accountant at RenaissanceRe, said: "We turned onto Harrington Sound Road and Megan started having contractions. At Leamington Caves, the baby's head crowned so we called 911 to find out if we should stop or keep going.

"They told us to stop but there was nowhere to pull over. As I'm driving, looking down, the baby is out. Megan is holding the baby. I pull over, go round the car, get the baby."

The former competitive swimmer couldn't find a clean towel so took off his shirt to wash the infant's face and wrap around her.

"She started crying; at that point, we rested her down. The ambulance was there five or six minutes later. It was a surreal moment, sitting in the car waiting, as joggers were going past."

The couple hadn't known if they were expecting a boy or girl and only checked when the 911 operator asked which it was. Mr. Troake then took a quick picture of mother and child before the ambulance arrived to whisk them to KEMH.

Mrs. Troake said: "It was crazy. My first labour was 16 hours. This was more like 16 minutes. I was fine. I was just in shock that it happened so fast and relieved that it was over."

Both mothers are due to leave hospital today with their new arrivals.