Terror turned to joy when a first-time mum gave birth on her friend's bathroom floor.

Heavily pregnant Marsha Parker had thought some turkey curry was the reason for her tummy upset after she went to visit her friend, Linda Scales, for lunch.

But the 34-year-old support worker realised it was much more than that when, after just a minute of labour pains, she watched her baby emerge and fall head first on Linda's bathroom floor.

Little Lacey Rose was a week overdue.

Marsha, of Rayleigh Road, Eastwood, said her first concern was whether or not Lacey had been injured during the incredibly quick birth.

She said: "Fortunately I'm only 4ft 8ins tall, so she didn't have far to fall. But the cord broke and she went flying. I thought she was dead."

Linda, 45, of Bridgwater Drive, Westcliff, rang 999 and asked for help.

Marsha said: "They told her to check her breathing, clear her nose and mouth, wrap her in a warm blanket and tap her until she cried."

Two ambulances quickly arrived, taking mum and baby to Southend Hospital, where Lacey was put into an intensive care incubator.

Marsha, a support worker at a home for adults with learning difficulties, said: "The paramedics were really good. I was in a bad way and there was loads of blood."

Because Lacey - who weighed 5lb 6oz when she was born at 5.35pm on January 15 - was so tiny she spent a week in intensive care.

She is now home with her proud mum.

Marsha said: "I thought she was going to be a goner, but she's a fighter."