For many people, the thought of giving birth on the street is terrifying. And it would be! Outside, you don’t have any control of what’s going to happen, and giving birth without medical assistance is definitely scary. But we do hear stories of it happening now and then. I was almost born on the sidewalk, according to family lore.
But what about giving birth in the back of a moving ambulance? Orange County, California, mom Yesenia Avila thought she had a few weeks until she was going to give birth, but her little one decided that wasn’t going to be the case. Avila ended up giving birth on the road, and now she’s sharing their story.
Her labor came out of nowhere.
Avila was 38 weeks pregnant with her second child and had gone to a prenatal doctor’s appointment the day before, KABC reported. During the appointment, her doctor didn’t give her any indication that she was in labor or that she would be giving birth any time soon.
So she went on about her life thinking she still had a few weeks left of her pregnancy. However, things changed around 9 a.m. as she was getting out of the shower.
“I was gonna get out of the hot shower and I just felt like a big drop, like a sensation,” she told the outlet.
Her husband was at work, so her sister-in-law got her into the car quickly and they took off for the hospital. But they weren’t going to make it in time, KABC reported. Avila’s contractions began to get stronger as they sat in the morning rush hour traffic.
“My sister-in-law is in labor,” the other woman said on the call to 911. “Her contractions went from five minutes apart to three minutes apart. I don’t think we’re gonna be able to make it.”
The women were on the side of the California 22 highway. But thankfully, help was on the way.
Avila said it ‘felt like a movie.’
Orange County Fire Authority emergency crews were the ones who responded to the call.
“Seeing where it was located, definitely starts raising some concerns,” Fire Captain Paramedic Greg Williams said.
Despite the heavy traffic, Williams and his crew were able to make their way to Avila, who was still very much in active labor. They quickly loaded her into an ambulance, but they realized seconds later they really weren’t going to make it to the hospital before the baby was born.
“When I got her in the back of the ambulance, she stated ‘I feel the urge to push’, which for me is an indicator that it’s time,” he said.
“I was like no I called you just to escort me to the hospital. Try to get there. We can make it,” she said, per KABC. “And he’s like ‘No, the baby’s coming.’” Minutes later, her son Emeric was born in the moving ambulance.
Unfortunately, her husband missed the whole thing. “I was driving and I get the call. It’s just like, you know what, just take it easy. The baby’s here. I was like what? I missed the whole delivery?” he shared.
The parents knew they owed a lot to the firefighter who delivered their precious baby.
For weeks after the baby’s birth, the parents attempted to track down Williams, whose name is listed on his birth certificate. They wanted to thank him in person for what he did.
They were able to do just that on April 14, 2026. “I just wanted to thank him because it meant a lot to me,” Avila said while standing in the firehouse.
Williams was pleased as well, telling KABC, “We see a lot of the other side of things, so to see life, to see a baby being born, it’s something to celebrate for sure.”
The Orange County Fire Authority shared a clip of the interview as well as the family posing with Willams on its Facebook page.
“Already dressed in a fire department shirt, we have a feeling we may see him again one day wearing the uniform!” the authority wrote in the post.
