OH BABY, what a surprise!

Lorraine Lucks, of Cowlersley Lane, Linthwaite, is getting to grips with motherhood for the fourth time after giving birth to a bouncing baby boy.

Only the swift hands of a midwife at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary prevented the new arrival being born in a hospital toilet to the utter shock of Lorraine, 40, and her partner Stephen Woodhouse, who is 43.

Neither had any idea Lorraine was pregnant.

The drama unfolded late last Thursday.

Stephen had left for his night shift at Holset while Lorraine planned a quiet evening at home.

But she began feeling seriously unwell as the evening went on and eventually realised she must go to hospital.

Steve joined her from work and the couple caught a taxi to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Arriving just after midnight, nurses confirmed Lorraine was pregnant.

Stunned by the news, what Lorraine did not know was that the baby's arrival was imminent and just minutes away.

Shocked and in increasing pain, Lorraine was with Steve in the bathroom of the delivery suite when the baby suddenly appeared - as did a midwife .

Lorraine said: "The midwife came sliding in on her knees and caught his head before he went down the toilet."

The baby arrived at 1.55am weighing 7lbs 7oz and has been provisionally named Max.

"Steve was saying: `It's a little boy' while I was still trying to get my head round the fact it was a baby."

Her early initial suspicions that she may have conceived were calmed by a visit to a GP and two home pregnancy kits last summer. They gave her the all-clear.

With her hands already full with a growing family as well as a new job at drinks company Ben Shaws, Lorraine had an extremely busy 2003.

But now, months later, her priorities have changed completely.

Back at home with the new arrival and Stephen, their family, friends and neighbours have been rallying round to provide equipment and clothes to meet the little lad's needs.

Lorraine's children from a previous relationship - Sarah, 20, Daniel, 18, and James, 15 - and Steve's two children - Sally, 15, and Katie, 13 - have also all been doting on tiny Max.