He said that the trace on one of the two had altered, and that the position had altered, and that between those two things they were now looking at an operation they might have to do faster than planned, and that a spinal takes time to site and time to work and cannot be deepened quickly.

He said: “If I need to be moving inside ninety seconds, I need you asleep.

I’m not prepared to be in a position where I’m waiting on anaesthesia with a problem in front of me.”

He said it would mean I would not see them born and would not hear them, and that I would be told the moment I came round, and that they would be in my arms before I was properly awake.

Then he said: “I’m sorry.