The birth of your first child is always an incredibly special moment, but one couple’s experience became even more meaningful when their daughter was born on their joint birthdays.

Simone Milner turned 29 on November 18, while her partner Matthew Leigh turned 40 on the same day.

After little Alma Leigh held on a couple of weeks past her due date, she arrived to share her parents’ birthday – making it a miraculous triple celebration.

The couple has described their late arrival as the ‘best present ever’ after celebrating the same birthday together for six years.

Now baby Alma has joined the birthday club after arriving a full 15 days later than expected. Simone, from Stockport, Cheshire, said:

“It would have been a really special day whenever she arrived, but this was amazing.  She’s the best birthday gift ever. You can’t do better than that, and it really is a special day now.

“I have to say giving birth didn’t make it feel like a birthday at all. I only remember being really high on gas and air and shortly after midnight Mat said ‘Happy Birthday’. I was like ‘oh is it our birthday?’ “It was such a far cry her being 15 days overdue. It’s almost like she made a choice to come on our birthday.”

The overjoyed couple were expecting their daughter to arrive on November 3 but got the best surprise when she arrived safely two weeks later.

Mat explained: “It’s magical. It’s very special to share the date as a family.