Parents Sarah Plumb and Ashley James Chalk surprised four-year-old Maisie when she came home from school by welcoming her in to meet her new little brother, Jasper James Chalk, who was born on January 13 weighing 9lb.

The couple, who have been together for two years, had a long wait to welcome their son as he was 11 days late.

Miss Plumb, 25, of Trowbridge, said Maisie has really embraced her big sister role.

She said: “Maisie loves him and she keeps on going over to the Moses basket to check on him or keeps asking to feed him.

“She really loves being a big sister although he just sleeps all the time which is great.

“I went into Trowbridge birthing centre just after 9.30am with pains, so Maisie had already gone to pre-school.

“My mum went and collected her at the end.

“When we arrived back home we had a baby in our hands and she couldn’t believe it because she had no idea what was going on.”

As Maisie weighed only 4lb when she was born, Miss Plumb had to have regular scans during her pregnancy to make sure her son was doing well.

Miss Plumb works at a preschool in Melksham, while Mr Chalk, 26, owns his own carpeting business.

She added: “At the start of the pregnancy, I had really bad sickness but that got a lot better.

“From then on it was plain sailing and by the end I just wanted him out. We left knowing the sex until the birth and Maisie wasn’t bothered at all.”

The couple praised the work of delivery staff. Miss Plumb said: “I would like to say thank you to everyone at the birthing centre because they were there for us from the minute we walked through the door to the minute we left with Jasper.”