A JEWELLERY designer delivered his baby at home in East Finchley because there was not enough time to get his wife to hospital.

Gary Rockman, 32, called 999 and was given step by step instructions on how to help his wife of four years Melissa Rockman, 38, give birth.

The couple had planned to have their baby, whose name cannot be mentioned for religious reasons, in a birthing pool at the Whittington Hospital birth centre in Highgate.

However, as Mrs Rockman’s contractions started at around 11.30pm last Thursday she realised the pain was much worse than when she had their first child, two-year-old Sonny Rockman.

As she waited for her husband’s mum, Judith Rockman, 57, to arrive to babysit Sonny, her waters broke.

Mr Rockman said: “I panicked because Melissa said she felt the baby was going to come out, but I helped her onto the floor in the lounge and got straight on the phone.”

Owner of Rockman Contemporary Jewellery in Broadway, Mill Hill, Mr Rockman also appears as a gemoligist on Quality Value Convenience (QVC) shopping channel, evaluating gem stones and how jewellery is made.

He said: “I’m really squeamish – I deal with jewels, gems and diamonds but I certainly don’t handle blood very well.

“I was talked through the whole thing but luckily just as I pulled the baby out the ambulance people knocked on the door.”

Mr and Mrs Rockman’s son was born at around 1.10am on Friday January 28, weighing seven pounds and 15 ounces.

After being taken to the Whittington hospital for a check up, mum and baby were allowed to return home the same day.

Mrs Rockman, a dentist in West Hampstead, said: “It all happened so quickly I didn’t really have time to be anxious.

“It was definitely a surreal experience but having Gary deliver our baby made it very special.”

To celebrate their new child Mr Rockman hand-made his wife a pendant using the diamond from his grandmother’s engagement ring.