'I was so scared of house intruders I went into labour'

Stefania Giudice's baby daughter Giorgia was born hours after the house-breaking

A woman has told how she was so terrified when thieves broke into her house in the middle of the night that she went into labour.

Stefania Giudice, 31, said the stress of the home invasion while she was upstairs in bed caused her to bleed and have contractions.

Her husband rushed her to the hospital where their baby daughter was born hours later.

The intruders stole the keys to her husband's car and drove off in it.

Ms Guidice said the thieves entered her home in Heritage Grange in Edinburgh's Burdiehouse through an unlocked door at the back of the house.

Car engine

She and her husband, Alberto Giudice, 33, were upstairs in the house at 04:30 on Wednesday 26 May.

Ms Giudice, who had reached the full term of her pregnancy, told BBC Scotland: "I'm a light sleeper since my 19-month-old son was born so when there was a sound like a chair moving across the floor downstairs it woke me up.

"My mother is staying with us just now so at first I thought maybe it was her.

"But then all of a sudden I heard my husband's car engine firing into life and I knew straightaway it was his car."

As she was heavily pregnant, she tried to roll over to slide out of bed and managed to get to the window as the white Audi S5 was driven away.

Alberto's car looked similar to this Audi A5

Ms Giudice woke her husband up and he called the police.

She said: "I didn't want to go downstairs because I was so scared some of the thieves were still in the house.

"The police arrived after 10 minutes, there was about three or four police cars and they said they had many more out looking for our car.

"That's when the shock of it hit me and I felt a huge contraction so I went to the toilet and I saw I was bleeding.

"I didn't bleed when I was pregnant with my first child so I was very scared."

Ms Giudice went to hospital where their baby daughter, Giorgia, was born on the same day.

She said: "I feel very scared still now that someone was in my house as I am home alone with two babies most of the time while my husband is at work.

"We have changed all the locks and we have had cameras fitted but I still don't feel safe."

Ms Giudice said she wanted to raise awareness of the incident so people could be more vigilant to stay safe.

She said: "I want to tell people to hide their car keys as ours were hanging on a hook near the door and to check their doors are locked before they go to bed.

"I keep thinking what If I had been downstairs at the time, what would have happened? Luckily it was only a car that was taken and not one of us hurt.

"You never think this would happen to you but it has happened to me so I want everyone to be more aware that this can happen so they can take extra precautions."

Checking for fingerprints

The police found the car 40 minutes later in Straiton, Midlothian.

Mr Giudice said he was told by police that often thieves leave the car in a street and come back for it once the police search is over days later.

He said: "It was a terrible thing that happened. The police were still in my house and my wife came back from the toilet to say 'I think I have a wee problem, I'm bleeding'. I was panicking and rushing my wife into her car to take her to hospital.

"Luckily her birth went fine and our wee daughter was born. It was a very scary few hours for both of us though."

The couple still don't have their car returned to them as the police are checking it for fingerprints.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "Inquiries remain ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact police."