YOUNG mum Katherine Green today paid tribute to medics who saved the life of the baby she did not even realise had been conceived.

The 19-year-old gave birth to little Charlie Anne May on the stairs of her Darwen home.

She got up in the middle of the night feeling ill but put the labour pains down to indigestion from a pizza she had eaten earlier.

Her frantic mother, Jean Green, dialled 999 after realising her new born grandaughter was not breathing.

She said: "One minute Katherine was walking down the stairs and the next a baby had arrived. It was a nightmare but the paramedics, midwives and doctor who came were brilliant.

"To make matters worse it was a breach birth and the umbilical cord had become tangled. The baby was starved of oxygen for 20 minutes and we weren't sure she would survive."

Katherine, who lives with her parents, Jean and Raymond in Anchor Grove, had gone full term without realising she was pregnant.

"It was a very big shock and the actual birth was terrifying, especially when I was told how poorly she was," explained the former Darwen Vale pupil who works as a packer at Chapmans, Darwen.

"Six weeks before I'd been living it up in Lanzarote.

"I'd been going out every weekend, drinking and dancing on the tables."

"Nothing had happened to give me a clue I could be pregnant.

"I didn't put on much weight or have morning sickness.

"My mum and dad have been brilliant. Now that everybody has got over their initial surprise they think it is quite funny." Unexpected arrivals run in the Green family, Katherine's elder sister Joanne, 28, of Brighton Terrace, Darwen, also gave birth to her daughter, Charlotte, now aged six, without realising she was having a child.

Jean added: "It's hard to believe that the same thing could happen to two sisters.

"Joanne had been jumping up and down on a trampoline the day before Charlotte arrived. She had her wisdom teeth out then went to hospital with suspected appendicitis and came home with a baby."

Charlie Anne was treated in the special care baby unit at Queen's Park Hospital for a month after her birth on August 27 last year and became the first baby to use the new scanner at Blackburn Royal Infirmary.

The Greens decided to show their appreciation to the staff who cared for her by staging a charity night in their local, Akzo Nobel Sports and Social Club, Anchor Lane, Darwen, last week.

They handed over a cheque for £600 to staff midwife Linda Aspden from the unit yesterday.

Katherine added: "Charlie Anne may not have been planned but I wouldn't swap her for the world. I can't thank the doctors and nurses enough for saving her life. This is our way of repaying their kindness.

"She is doing really well at the moment and the doctors are keeping a close eye on her to make sure it stays that way."

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