Photo: A woman in a town in Southwest China's Yunnan Province gave birth on a tyre floating in floodwater after heavy downpours had hit the town for days.

A woman in a town in Southwest China's Yunnan Province reportedly gave birth on a tyre floating in floodwater, after heavy downpours had hit the town for days.

The woman, surnamed Chang, who had high-risk symptoms including uterus scarring and premature rupture of fetal membranes and had to be sent to hospital immediately for emergency treatment, was trapped at home when local traffic was cut off by three meters of floodwater, reported CCTV on Saturday.

Hospital staffers and volunteers then came up with an idea to place Chang on a 1.5-meter-wide tyre so that she could be transferred on the water to the nearest ambulance.

Six adult volunteers with strong swimming skills slowly pushed forward the tyre, while a doctor sat beside Chang on the tyre to take care of her.

However, Chang suddenly went into labor about 30 minutes after she had been lying on the tyre. Thanks to the doctor in attendance, she eventually gave birth to a baby boy, and was later transferred to an ambulance before being sent to hospital.

The baby was named Shuisheng, "born in water."

Chang is currently recovering well in hospital and her vital signs are stable, CCTV reported.