While travelling from Sealdah to New Alipurduar on the Padatik Express – a woman went into labour. Both passengers and train personnel acted quickly in response to the unexpected start of labour. They assisted the woman in giving birth to her child safely by swiftly converting the train’s general compartment into a makeshift delivery room.
Birth to a healthy daughter on Moving Train
On the train, the crew assisted her in giving birth to a healthy daughter by performing a successful chord division and placental delivery. Later, the mother and the little daughter were taken to a hospital for additional monitoring and care.
In the Anakapalle area of Andhra Pradesh, a similar incident occurred previously in which a medic assisted a woman in giving birth while a train was moving. MBBS graduate K Swathi Reddy helped deliver the baby on the Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Duronto Superfast Express.
“At about 4:30 in the morning, someone woke me up from a deep slumber. He informed me that his expectant spouse was experiencing labour pains and inquired if I could be of any assistance. He was asking other women in the compartment to help save his wife, and he had no idea that I was a medic, K Swathi Reddy told Hindustan Times.
“I was carrying neither gloves nor any medical instruments with me to perform the birth. I was fortunate enough to have a bottle of Betadine surgical solution with me, so I could sanitise my hands. Using what little expertise I had from my education, I made sure Satyavathi gave birth to the baby girl without any problems,” the woman stated.
“But without the right tools and warm water, Swathi Reddy was unable to cut or clamp the umbilical cord. Since it was an air-conditioned chamber, there was not even warm water to bathe the infant or keep them warm. I was only able to wrap the infant in three or four warm outfits,” the mother remarked.
The couple, Satyanarayana and Satyavathi were on their way from Hyderabad to their hometown of Ponnam village in the Vizianagaram district.
