Three friends help woman give birth on busy Leeds main road

Ms Minzele said the fact the three women stopped to help her give birth was "God-sent"

Three friends who helped a woman give birth while in a car on a busy main road in Leeds have been described by the new mum as a "blessing".

Debby Minzele, 31, was on the way to St James's Hospital's maternity ward on Monday with husband Chris when her waters broke near Armley Gyratory.

Mr Minzele stopped the vehicle and the women, in another car, offered to help.

Now recovering from giving birth to a healthy baby girl, Ms Minzele said: "The ladies are angels in the sky."

It was while driving near the busy roundabout just outside Leeds city centre that Mr Minzele, 32, said he realised he would have to stop after he saw the baby's head appear.

"I knew we weren't going to make it," he said.

Ms Minzele said: "At that moment, my body was just telling me to push."

'Shocking scene'

Melanie Murtagh, 34, Natasha Grierson, 33, and Kaphia Dennis, 31, said as soon as they saw the Minzeles' vehicle stopped on the road in front of them, they knew something was amiss.

"A big car was just sat there and it had no hazards on," Ms Murtagh said.

"We were like, what's going on?"

However, it was when they drove around the vehicle and saw a leg sticking out of the car that they decided to stop.

Ms Dennis said: "It was just a shocking scene."

Mr Minzele said he had to stop the car despite busy traffic because he knew they were not going to make it to hospital

Ms Grierson said the only thing going through her mind at that moment was that they needed to "save this baby" and make sure Ms Minzele was well.

"For me, it was really important the girls took off their tops to wrap the baby up.

"It was shocking, but it was something that God gave us that blessing to do."

Ms Dennis said it was "scary at the time".

"But looking back now, it's just a joyful feeling," she added.

'It was God-sent'

Meanwhile, Ms Murtagh said as she called an ambulance she realised traffic was still flowing past.

As a result, she said the friends starting putting traffic cones out in the road to protect the new mum.

"People were looking, not stopping. We were literally in leggings and bras running down the road," she said.

Eventually, an ambulance arrived at the scene and Ms Minzele and her baby girl were handed over to the paramedics to be taken to hospital.

Looking back at this unexpected turn of events, Ms Minzele she could not be more grateful that the right people had stopped at the right time.

"God sent the three ladies to come and help me. I am not sure if they know, but it was God-sent.

"The ladies are angels in the sky. It's a blessing."