This cradle will rock

Niamh Farrell of Ham Sandwich didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labour two weeks ago. She tells Sinead Gleesona rock'n'roll tale to beat them all.

ALL bands have their crazy stories. From tales of mid-gig electrocution to naked hotel streaking, they are the kind of chronicles we expect - heck, demand - of musicians. Niamh Farrell of Irish band Ham Sandwich now has her own classic. Her "remember-the-time-I-went-to-hospital-with-cramps-and-was-told-I-was-in-labour" story takes some beating. Twenty-five-year-old Farrell became a mother on June 8th but had absolutely no idea she was pregnant until going to hospital complaining of cramps.

"We were meant to play a gig in Monaghan but I wasn't feeling well, so we cancelled," says the singer. "Four days before Oscar was born, we played a gig in London so I had been on a plane, which might have started everything."

In the days before her son's birth, Niamh felt unwell and attributed stomach ache to period pains. "I was laid up in bed for a few days taking Disprin, not realising that the pains were actually contractions. I had NO clue at all that anything else was going."

As the weekend drew nearer, things worsened. Eventually Niamh and her boyfriend Derek (ex-Autumn Owls) decided something was seriously wrong and trooped off to hospital. "I was literally doubled over in pain and gave a urine sample. At no point did I suspect what was really going on. Eventually a nurse called me and said 'you're pregnant' and took me to see a gynaecologist, who told me, 'you're fully dilated, you're in labour'."

Stories like this pop up in women's magazines all the time (singer Cara Dillon once did an entire gig while she was in labour with twins). Niamh never suspected she was expecting a baby.

Having a baby after not knowing you're pregnant is a staggering situation. After all, baby kicks are hard to miss - during my own pregnancy, it felt like my own son was using my uterus as a trampoline - so did Niamh not even feel one tiny poke in the ribs? "When you don't know you're pregnant, you're not watching out for stuff like that and you think it's a cramp."

"I've always put on weight on my stomach, and thought I was just getting a bit of a fat belly." The first weeks of pregnancy are all about coma-inducing tiredness, and while most pregnant women fall into bed early, Farrell was off touring in support of Ham Sandwich's new album. In all, she has probably been touring and gigging for most of the pregnancy.

"If I'd known I was pregnant, I wouldn't have gigged so much. We did the 2FM tour and I was probably about two months along. When we were touring the album, I was probably about six months, and I didn't know."

And bands aren't exactly the kind of folk at home every night drinking Ovaltine in front of the telly. "No, I was doing all the usual stuff, drinking and smoking, which I would never have done if I'd known." Thankfully, little Oscar - born a few weeks early at 5lbs 2oz - is doing great.

When Niamh heard the news, some latent pragmatism kicked in and she decided she'd just have to get used to the idea - and fast. Boyfriend Derek's response was similar mix of shock and practicality - he quickly suggested a name and was dispatched to call the grandparents. "My parents were in shock, but they're delighted now. It's great."

Motherhood and music are not mutually exclusive, but touring and band life are not that compatible with having a newborn baby. What will it mean for Ham Sandwich?

"I'm planning on taking it one day at a time. The lads are really supportive and I don't have to be at soundchecks, so we'll work it out. And we're still planning on playing Glastonbury this month, but little Oscar will stay home with his dad."

Ham Sandwich play the Coolaboola Festival in Cork on Sunday and various summer festivals including Glastonbury and The Electric Picnic