The island’s brush with Hurricane Imelda delivered a happy occasion for two couples who found themselves in the hospital during the storm.

Gosai Pritmani, baby GP for short, arrived during storm conditions at 7.47pm yesterday at a time when most residents were huddled in their homes to wait out Imelda.

The firstborn of Niraj Pritmani and his wife, Sonam Gosai Pritmani, will be named, in accordance with Hindu tradition, 11 days from his arrival.

His time of birth and other details have been sent to a Hindu pundit to assign a name.

Mr Pritmani said: “At around 11am, we were not sure if Sonam was just having cramps, or if they were contractions.

“But they went from manageable to intense, so we decided to come to the hospital at around 2pm.”

Soon her contractions were coming faster, and by 4pm Ms Gosai Pritmani was in labour.

Mr Pritmani said he was fortunate that things proceeded swiftly.

He added: “Because she was deemed to be in active labour, I was allowed to stay with her and was here for the birth.

“Had she not been in active labour, I would have had to go home and then request a police escort to come back to the hospital after 4pm.”

The couple said they had considered leaving the island for the birth, out of concern that the happy event might coincide with a hurricane hitting.

Ms Gosai Pritmani said: “It was our No 1 fear, but many we talked to convinced us that the odds of that happening were extremely low — so we stayed, and it turned out to be perfect.”

The new father said that the 7lb 8oz boy’s name was “unlikely to be Humberto or Imelda”.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board also welcomed Franklin Roy Mayor late in the storm at 6.40am today.

The first child to Lucy and Stephen Mayor weighed 7lb 5oz.

Franklin had been due on September 30, and his parents, although given the option to check into the maternity unit for the storm, decided to stay with relatives close by on Laurel Lane.

Mr Mayor said that when his wife began having contractions four minutes apart, they decided it best to “roll down the road” at 2:45am.

He added: “Lucy went straight into delivery when we got here.

“The hospital staff and the maternity team were absolutely amazing from the time we arrived at the front door. They could not have done more for us.”

Ms Mayor said: “Dr Reese and our nurse, Lilia, a midwife, were absolutely incredible. We thank the entire maternity team.”