A Brampton mother experienced an unexpected delivery last week when she gave birth in her car at a gas station after labor progressed faster than anticipated while on the way to the hospital in Mississauga.
Labor began unexpectedly around 5:15 a. m. on January 28, when Jelissa sensed that something was off.
“It started with one simple cramp, and then I thought this is my labour,” she told INsauga. com
Jelissa, who was full term and expecting to give birth at a hospital, quickly got ready to leave her house. She packed bags for her two young sons, planning to drop them off at daycare before heading to Credit Valley Hospital where her OB team was located.
She hopped into the car with her husband Tyrone and their two children (both under three and a half years old) and set off from Brampton towards Mississauga.
The family was about ten minutes from the hospital when Jelissa’s water broke.
“My water broke!” she exclaimed. “Then I had the urge to push and I realized I was crowning.”
Before going into labor, Jelissa’s main focus was getting to the hospital in time for an epidural and having a safe delivery – until it became clear that wouldn’t be possible.
“I like a hospital setting,” she shared. “I like seeing my nurse and my doctor.”
As contractions grew stronger, reality began to sink in.
Jelissa, who works as a nurse, said it felt different at that moment since the baby was coming out and she had no choice but to push.
She told INsauga. com, “There’s a point where you realize, I’m doing this myself…and I was scared.”
She called 911, and a dispatcher stayed on the line trying to help guide her through what needed to be done. However, inside the car there wasn’t much space to move around.
“The dispatcher was telling me to recline my chair and I couldn’t,” Jelissa explained. “My son was behind me in his car seat.”
Her oldest son watched everything unfold from the back seat and kept asking questions.
“He kept saying, Mommy, are you okay?” she recalled.
With Highway 401 ahead of them and no safe place to pull over, Tyrone stopped near a Petro-Canada gas station parking lot along Battleford Road and Mississauga Road.
The paramedics were already en route. “By the time they came, I had already pushed the baby halfway out,” Jelissa said.
The paramedics arrived with temperatures outside at −20 C degrees; they assisted with completing the delivery before wrapping him up in blankets and placing him on Jelissa’s chest.
Despite the cold conditions Jelissa remarked “I was sweating,” noting that intense pain blocked out everything else around her.
An alarming detail did cross her mind though:
“The door was open, and the baby was coming out feeling the cold,” she stated. “That part was frightening.”
The moment shifted when she heard his cry:
“It’s like you did this miraculous thing,” she expressed. “The happiness and joy come over you, and fear stops.”
Soon after giving birth, both Jelissa and her newborn son were transported by ambulance to Credit Valley Hospital. Once it became clear that their baby boy was safe during transport, Tyrone finally asked what many parents do right away:
“He asked ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’” Jelissa laughed as she recounted.
The couple had decided beforehand not to find out their baby’s gender until birth; thus they waited for this special moment together![]]]] ->#. h3 INsau’s Editorial Standards / Policies
“My water broke!” she exclaimed. “Then I had the urge to push and I realized I was crowning.”
Before going into labor, Jelissa’s main focus was getting to the hospital in time for an epidural and having a safe delivery – until it became clear that wouldn’t be possible.
“I like a hospital setting,” she shared. “I like seeing my nurse and my doctor.”
As contractions grew stronger, reality began to sink in.
Jelissa, who works as a nurse, said it felt different at that moment since the baby was coming out and she had no choice but to push.
She told INsauga. com, “There’s a point where you realize, I’m doing this myself…and I was scared.”
She called 911, and a dispatcher stayed on the line trying to help guide her through what needed to be done. However, inside the car there wasn’t much space to move around.
“The dispatcher was telling me to recline my chair and I couldn’t,” Jelissa explained. “My son was behind me in his car seat.”
Her oldest son watched everything unfold from the back seat and kept asking questions.
“He kept saying, Mommy, are you okay?” she recalled.
With Highway 401 ahead of them and no safe place to pull over, Tyrone stopped near a Petro-Canada gas station parking lot along Battleford Road and Mississauga Road.
The paramedics were already en route. “By the time they came, I had already pushed the baby halfway out,” Jelissa said.
The paramedics arrived with temperatures outside at −20 C degrees; they assisted with completing the delivery before wrapping him up in blankets and placing him on Jelissa’s chest.
Despite the cold conditions Jelissa remarked “I was sweating,” noting that intense pain blocked out everything else around her.
An alarming detail did cross her mind though:
“The door was open, and the baby was coming out feeling the cold,” she stated. “That part was frightening.”
The moment shifted when she heard his cry:
“It’s like you did this miraculous thing,” she expressed. “The happiness and joy come over you, and fear stops.”
Soon after giving birth, both Jelissa and her newborn son were transported by ambulance to Credit Valley Hospital. Once it became clear that their baby boy was safe during transport, Tyrone finally asked what many parents do right away:
“He asked ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’” Jelissa laughed as she recounted.The couple had decided beforehand not to find out their baby’s gender until birth; thus they waited for this special moment together!








