2-year-old helps mom in unexpected birth

OLIVE BRANCH, Miss., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A 2-year-old Mississippi boy provided valuable assistance in the unexpected birth of his baby brother, the boy's mother says.

The toddler, Jeremiha Taylor of Olive Branch, Miss., caught the new baby as his mother, Bobbye Favazza, 27, pushed while giving birth on her living room couch last week, The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Wednesday.

"He's my little hero," Favazza, 27, told the newspaper. "It was like he knew what to do."

While Jeremiha's 3-year-old brother cried when Favazza's water broke and she started bleeding, the 2-year-old was calm.

"I laid on the couch and he went and got a towel," Favazza told the newspaper. "He grabbed a towel on his own. It happened so fast. My water broke and the baby came two to three minutes later. I just pushed and he caught him."

Favazza said she was able to call her mother before giving birth, and she in turn called for an ambulance. Paramedics arrived and cut the baby's umbilical cord.

Mother and baby were discharged from Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto in Southaven, Miss., without complications, the Commercial-Appeal said.