Midwives geared themselves up for the busiest day of the year yesterday, Wednesday.

Staff at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) prepared for September 26- the most common birthday in England and Wales according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Lara Van Der Merwe, from South Africa and now lives in Leigh, gave birth to her third baby, her son Draven, on September 22.

She said: “I ended up with an emergency C-section and received wonderful care, the staff have been absolutely fantastic.

“It was so lovely to be remembered by everyone- particularly the staff at the Thomas Linacre Centre in Wigan, as I’d obviously been before with my previous pregnancies.”

Chelsea Foster, who gave birth to daughter, Maisie-Louise on September 24, added: “The midwives were really comforting. I had my son here almost two years ago and with Maisie-Louise I had a good, quick labour."

The trust's maternity services is based at Wigan’s Royal Albert Edward Infirmary.

Outpatient maternity matron at WWL Alison Murray said: “Birth is unpredictable and we often see fluctuations in the number of births each month- anecdotally September is always a busy time for us.

"Our midwives and obstetricians are committed to providing safe effective care to all mothers and are on hand to support them during their birth whenever their baby chooses to arrive.”