It's a great relief filled with excitement when a father outside a delivery room is told by nurses that his wife and newly born baby are both safe and healthy.

The feeling of relief came even stronger for Ma Zhanhu, whose daughter couldn't wait to come to the world when a powerful earthquake hit his hometown in Bonan-Dongxiang-Salar autonomous county of Jishishan in Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, Northwest China's Gansu province late on Monday.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the quake hit at 11:59 pm on Monday and had a focal depth of 10 km.

At the time, Ma was preparing to take his wife to go to a local hospital because the pregnant woman had started suffering contractions.

"Suddenly my mind went blank. I saw my wife had no strength to get out of bed, so I protected her with my body and arms. When the shaking stopped, I carried her to a safe place outside right away," Ma recalled.

For a seven-kilometer route from his home to a hospital in the downtown of Jishishan county, it took Ma about an hour, since the roads had been damaged by the shock.

However, arriving at hospital didn't give them much relief, because some of the equipment in the hospital was temporarily unavailable, and there was no electricity in the delivery room, Ma said.

He then thought about transferring his wife to the hospital in Linxia, the county's upper administrative prefecture. But the doctor in the county's hospital told him that because the journey was far, there might be emergencies during the transfer.

They had no choice but to make his wife stay in an ambulance.

Their anxious waiting went on until after 3 am when the wife was transferred to a delivery room right after the power was brought back.

The baby was then born at 3:43 am on Tuesday, safe and sound weighing 3.75 kilograms.

"The moment I heard the words that my wife and daughter were both safe, I collapsed on the ground, totally relieved," Ma said.

He added that he wanted to show his gratitude to the medical staff, who risked their lives to help deliver the baby.