THE phone rang.
Just before 5pm on June 28, emergency medical call taker Sarah Smith was on her third solo Triple Zero call at the Newcastle headquarters.
On the other end of the line, Garth Andrews' wife Tanya was going into labour on the living room floor at their Forresters Beach home.
"It was one of the first calls I took as a solo operator, as soon as I answered there was a man on the other end of the line saying his partner was 40 weeks pregnant and having a baby," Ms Smith said.
"I knew it was real and happening."
Triple Zero call takers go through a rigorous training process, spending five weeks in Sydney and another five in a centre alongside a trainer before they're allowed to handle calls on their own.
It was one of Ms Smith's first calls and Mr Andrews' first baby - two complete strangers working together to help his wife Tanya perform one of the great miracles of life.
"I had just got home from work, we'd been in and out of hospital for two weeks prior, the day that Mia was born on June 28, Tanya was exactly 40 weeks pregnant," Mr Andrews said.
"She said she'd been feeling weird, we had a shower together and I went out to pack the car, she got to the car but not in it and asked me to call Triple Zero."
Once connected with Ms Smith, a sense of calm washed over him - he would deliver baby Mia.
"I didn't know it was her third phone call at the time, she was reassuring us an ambulance was on the way which I later found out was a long way away," Mr Andrews said.
"Her calmness kept me fairly calm, I didn't stress too much.
"I'm pretty poor with blood but I didn't have much choice, I was so worried about other things and it turns out humans can do pretty incredible things when we don't know what we're doing."
And, at 5:17pm, Ms Smith heard baby Mia's first cries down the phone.
It would be another seven minutes until an ambulance arrived on the scene.
"Just to hear those first cries from Mia was amazing," Ms Smith said.
"I think it was really helpful with the dad being so calm and compliant, he was really listening to everything I was saying - but he did say I helped keep him calm.
"He did a fantastic job. It's so exciting when everything works out as it's meant to."
About nine months into the role, Ms Smith knows that Triple Zero calls don't always have a happy ending.
Sometimes she never knows the outcome.
So, to meet a happy, healthy baby Mia, her mum and dad and brother Callum was truly special.
"It's such a heartwarming experience to be on the other end of the line and help someone when the ambulance wasn't going to get there," she said.
"It makes the job worthwhile, because as you can appreciate every call isn't a positive outcome, but it's really nice to know I was a part of that.
"You're the voice on the other end of the call, once you hang up that's it - you hope you've helped in some way or assisted to get an ambulance there as soon as you can.
"But to know they're so positive and happy to update me with baby's progress is just beautiful, it's really nice to have that relationship."
Before she worked at the Northern Control Centre, Ms Smith worked as a travel agent and at a skydiving centre at Belmont.
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