Abbie Morris gave birth to a healthy baby Jax in her bedroom (Picture: SWNS)

It’s a long-held belief that spicy food can bring on labour – and new mum Abbie Morris has proven it to be true.

The 32-year-old had invited relatives over for a homecooked chili dinner, when she began experiencing intense pain.

Abbie, who still had a week to go before her due date, went into labour before the paramedics arrived – forcing husband, Aaron, 32, and sister Grace, 29, to play midwife.

Baby Jax was born upstairs, in Abbie’s bedroom, while the rest of the family, including three-year-old daughter, Grace, were downstairs.

Abbie, a junior merchandiser from Fareham, Hants, said: ‘My mum had no clue what on earth was going on – she was so distracted keeping the kids entertained she didn’t realise I had had the baby upstairs.

‘Because it was so quick, I was still wearing my clothes. I was wearing a long black skirt which I was able to push down, and my hair and make-up were still intact.

(L-R) Aaron and Abbie Morris, baby Jax, Ellie, three, and Abbie’s sister Grace Wilton. Aaron and Grace helped to deliver Jax (Picture: SWNS)

‘In the end up my dad ended up making the chili for dinner and my daughter was able to meet Jax when he was only an hour old.’

‘We told everyone his name and they got to see him and give him a kiss.’

Abbie had planned to throw a small dinner party with her family on the Sunday.

But on the Saturday – August 20 – she began to experience contractions.

However, after a visit to the hospital, she says she was told that there was no reason to worry and was sent home.

The contractions settled down throughout the day and by the evening seemed to have stopped completely, so Abbie decided to throw the party as planned.

Abbie spent two nights in hospital after giving birth at home (Picture: Abbie Morris/SWNS)

Abbie said: ‘On Saturday I started having some contractions in the morning – they were mild, and I was a bit concerned so I went into hospital, and they monitored me but said it was fine.

‘I left the hospital and was home by 10.30pm and went to bed at 1am – the contractions had stopped completely, and I thought it was a false alarm.

‘I woke up in the morning and the same thing happened again – they kicked off at 10am but it was fine.

‘I’d decided I wasn’t going to cancel [the dinner party].

‘Mum and Dad came around at about 2pm and I decided to go upstairs to the bedroom. I lay down on the bed to have a little sleep and then ten minutes later the contractions ramped up.

‘Aaron came up at 4.55pm and I told him they were strong but still five minutes apart.

‘I phoned the labour line to ask if it was normal as they were still far apart but really intense now.

‘They were quite laid back about it on the phone.’

Abbie claims the call handler suggested she may need to attend a hospital over an hour away, as there were no beds.

Jax is now thriving (Picture: SWNS)

Realising they may be in for a long journey, Aaron then rushed out of the house to fill the car with fuel to ensure they could make it to wherever they needed to go.

In the meantime, things weren’t slowing down for Abbie – and, within 20 minutes, her contractions were suddenly just a minute apart.

Abbie said: ‘I was getting to the realisation that the baby was coming at home.

‘I phoned the labour line again, but the contractions were so intense I couldn’t speak at all.

‘They continued to say they didn’t know where I would be sent, and they would phone me back and tell me where I needed to go.

‘At 6pm, I still hadn’t heard from them.

‘I was having the urge to push and Aaron was on the phone to the ambulance.

‘She put us on hold and said she needed to speak to someone and during the time we were on hold my waters broke.

‘When she came back, she put us straight on to the midwife who coached Aaron through how to deliver the baby.

‘Aaron was quite upset and was saying to Grace, “I can’t do it, I can’t do it” and she was telling him he could and was helping him.’

Meanwhile, the family downstairs were attempting to do their bit too.

Abbie said: ‘My mum was entertaining Ellie, my dad was outside ready to flag the ambulance, my brother-in-law was shouting updates from inside out to my dad – it all sounded quite comical downstairs.’

Thankfully baby Jax arrived safely, and Abbie was taken to hospital for checks, where she stayed for two nights.

A spokesperson for Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust said: ‘Due to the unpredictable nature of birth, maternity services everywhere can have peaks and troughs of activity.

‘Having one to one care in labour is very important for safety, so when a service is unable to do this, they work with neighbouring hospitals to support with admissions until the peak passes and the service can reopen, this is managed through labour line, they will call back and let the mother know where they can go to birth.

‘The length of labour and how it feels varies enormously from person to person and for this reason, some babies will be unexpectedly born before getting to the hospital.’

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Abbie’s husband and sister helped to deliver her baby.