Jennifer Metcalfe's newborn son was at risk of being stillborn.

The 'Hollyoaks' actress gave birth to her first child in June and says he survived against "the odds" after he was born with a tight knot in his umbilical cord which often causes death during labour and ends in a heartbreaking stillbirth.

Recalling her labour, she said: "As far as labour was concerned I quite enjoyed it, but midwives came rushing in at the end as his heart rate had dropped.

"When our little gorgeous boy came out, his cord was in a tight knot. It happens to one in 100 babies, and often ends in stillbirth."

And it emerged the little boy battled with the knot inside the womb for nine months and could have tightened it by accident at any moment.

Describing the terrifying prospect, she added to Christine Lampard on 'Lorraine': "Our little man defied the odds, and here he is.

"But he'd been battling against it for nine months, and if he'd tightened it in my stomach, things may have ended differently."

The 34-year-old actress says her midwives did a fantastic job and she received so much support from them throughout.

She said: "They made me feel like superwoman. They said I was best pusher in the North East!"

Jennifer and her beau Greg Lake named their baby Daye Colmic Lake, and Greg previously admitted he was initially unsure if he liked the name but it says it grew on him.

Greg added: "I wasn't sure about it but one day I was driving home and I thought. 'Daye Lake sounds good - I like this'.

And explaining its origins, Jennifer said: "My dad was called Colin and Greg's dad is Mick. Greg quite likes having the dads' names carry on and I'm not a fan of having more than one middle name. I wanted something original and then our friends Rachel Adedeji and husband John Finegan were up visiting and it just sounded nice coming out of her mouth."