A mum spent New Year's Day in labour watching fireworks while giving birth to her daughter.

Marie Speller, 38, from Garston gave birth to her daughter Mabelle at 6.37am and she weighed eight pounds and three ounces.

Mrs Speller who has been married to rail engineer, Shane, since 2015 said she met her husband on a night out in Watford.

She said she chose the name because it means "beautiful, loving and loveable".

She added: “We already had so many names picked out and we chose Mabelle because of the meaning. All the girl names in the family begin with M, so you have me and my other daughter, Madeleine.”

Mrs Speller said it was an emotional experience when Mabelle finally arrived.

She said: “We were watching the fireworks during my labour. I had a natural birth, but I wasn’t in a great amount of pain because I had an epidural.

“It was amazing to see the display and the next morning it was New Year's Day and Mabelle arrived. I was just so overwhelmed.

“It was so emotional, I can’t really explain it. I thought she was so beautiful, and she hasn’t left my side since.”

Since the mother-of-three came home with Mabelle she said she has fitted in well with the family and there have not been many challenges so far.

She said: “I hope Mabelle will be able to grow up to do whatever she wants in this world.

"I want her to be happy and to have a stable and loving life like we got at the moment, as a family.”

Mrs Speller has also praised the midwives at Watford General for their work and said every time she goes the “experience just gets better”.