THE first baby born at the Great Western Hospital celebrated her 18th birthday – and was joined at the party by one of the midwives who delivered her.

Molly Rose Saunders, who was born on December 4, 2002, had a special video call the day before her birthday with the maternity team who welcomed her into the world.

The teenager and her mum Pat were joined virtually by the head of midwifery Christina Rattigan, Brighter Futures’ Trust fundraiser Jane Leighton and midwife Kathryn Owen.

Molly is a student at Newbury College, on a Level 3 public services course in order to become a paramedic.

She told the Adver: “I was delighted to see the midwives when we virtually caught up last week.

“I was really interested to hear what happened on the day I was born.”

Midwife Joanna Powell was looking after Pat but was unable to attend the call.

“It was just wonderful to see Molly and see what an amazing young lady that she’s turned into, it was really lovely,” Kathryn said.

“And to see Pat again... obviously it was a long time ago, but to see her again it was just really nice. We hope to have a face-to-face meet up when we’re allowed to.”

The hospital had just opened following the closure of Princess Margaret Hospital, with the first patients arriving through the doors at 7am.

Pat arrived around 45 minutes later, giving birth at 10.58am.

The mum from Hungerford recalled: “I woke up at 3.45am but I was convinced in the car I was only going to be 1cm dilated.

“When I got there, I was terrified of the lifts, so I asked where the stairs were and they told me I was in labour, so I had to get in the lift.

“When I was examined, I was actually 8cm dilated, so almost ready to give birth when I arrived.”

She added: “And then we found out that there was another lady next door, so the race was on for the first baby to be born.

“The staff were absolutely brilliant. It was the first day for them, so everything was quite new, but they were really encouraging.”

Kathryn, who has been a midwife since 1998, said: “I remember the day very clearly. We moved from the old hospital, so we started working at 7am, and Pat was the first lady to come in to delivery.

“We remembered it because we were rushing around, trying to find the equipment, and just get used to new surroundings. It was really special, a brand-new hospital, coming from Princess Margaret, which was quite old by then

“It was great to move here, because we had all the new equipment, everything was nice and shiny, clean and new, it took a little bit of getting used to.

“If you told me it was 18 years ago, it doesn’t seem like that. It only seems like yesterday, it hard to believe that we’ve been here for 18 years.”