By Deanne Jeffers
A couple has welcomed their baby boy Jimmy in extraordinary circumstances, delivering him on the side of a road in Tallygaroopna with the help of a Triple Zero call-taker.
Tayla and Jack Pyle were driving to hospital late on March 4 when it became clear they would not make it in time, pulling over at the intersection of McCarten and Katamatite-Shepparton Main roads.
Jimmy was born shortly before midnight, still inside of his amniotic sac, a rare occurrence.
Tayla said the experience was intense, but she looks back with gratitude.
“It was pretty full on birthing little Jimmy on the side of the road, but it was an experience… I just feel very grateful,” she said.
The couple had already suspected the birth might happen quickly, after Tayla’s first contraction around 9.50pm.
Living more than an hour from Shepparton and needing to drop their daughter Dottie with family first, time quickly ran out.
“We kind of knew when we dropped Dottie off that we weren’t really going to make it because they were pretty intense contractions,” Tayla said. “I felt his head come out and I was like, ‘we need to pull over, we’re not going to make it’.”
Jack immediately called Triple Zero, where Emergency Communications Officer Monet Stitt-Jones guided the couple through the delivery.
Jack said despite the pressure of the moment, everything fell into place.
“I didn’t really have a choice, but looking back now, it couldn’t have worked out any better,” he said. “We’re just grateful that we had the Triple Zero team there to get us through, it’s a perfect outcome.”
Ms Stitt-Jones said the call was unlike anything she had experienced before.
“It’s just really exciting to be part of something so special like this,” she said. “It’s not every day you hear something like this.”
Meeting the family for the first time after the birth on Monday, was equally memorable.
“It’s been surreal… I’ve never met anybody I’ve spoken to on the phone before,” she said. “Actually seeing Jimmy in the flesh is really surreal today, from the baby that I had crying on the phone.”
Ambulance Victoria MICA paramedic Jeremy Lia said crews arrived shortly after the birth on a cold night, focussing on keeping mother and baby comfortable.
“Once we did an assessment and ensured everyone was safe and healthy, it was about comfort measures, trying to keep Jimmy warm,” he said.
“It was a really jovial, happy experience… a lot of chat, a lot of laughs. It was really fun.”
Mr Lia said while pre-hospital births were not uncommon, Jimmy’s arrival was particularly rare.
“He was born inside his amniotic sac… I believe it’s about one in 80,000 babies,” he said.
Now safely home, Tayla said baby Jimmy is thriving and already adored by his big sister.
“He’s a happy, smiley little boy, and Dottie just loves being a big sister,” she said.
Triple Zero Victoria data shows call-takers have assisted in more than 1,200 births before paramedics arrived since 2024, highlighting the critical role they play in life’s most urgent, and sometimes unexpected, moments.
