Baby born on Texas interstate

KXAN – AUSTIN (KXAN) — Happy birthday to the Austinite who was delivered on the side of the road Thursday morning.

The right shoulder was blocked on Interstate 35 and Airport Boulevard while Jazmin Martinez delivered her own baby. The father, Luiz, called 911 at 4:53 a.m. saying "the baby's coming out!"

Austin-Travis County EMS arrived minutes later, after the baby was already born.

The couple was just a few blocks from the hospital, but the baby girl had other plans. "It was a crazy morning, I was freaking out, she took it like a champ," Luiz said.

Following the 911 dispatcher's advice, Luiz helped clean the baby off with his shirt and even tied the umbilical chord with his headphone string while waiting for help to arrive.

"She didn't want to wait," Luiz said.

The mom and her new baby girl are doing fine after finally making it to St. David's Hospital. The father tells KXAN the baby has been named Julieta.

The family will get to go home from the hospital on Saturday so Julieta can meet her four siblings.

"It was an awesome experience. A crazy awesome experience," Luiz said.

ATCEMS communication medics are trained to handle these types of situations and to help keep callers calm. Each staff member is given a script to follow depending on the type of emergency. The first question they ask is always location-based so they can get help on the way immediately. Then they will ask more information and start instructing the caller on what to do until that help arrives.

"We follow a script, it walks you through step by step because not all deliveries are the same. Sometimes you present with a head, sometimes you present with a foot and you have to know what to do," said Angela Zaleta, Austin EMS Communications Captain.

EMS crews say it's not all that rare for someone to deliver their own baby. In fact, the last time a mom delivered her own baby was only four days ago on Sept. 18 in the family's home.