Woman gives birth to baby girl at railway platform in Ludhiana

Sensing the state of pregnant woman, the RPF women team alighted her from the train and called an ambulance to send her to hospital for delivery

A woman passenger travelling from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua to Chhapra in Bihar delivered a baby girl at platform number 1 of Ludhiana railway station on Wednesday. The women team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) helped her during the childbirth.

RPF women team members with the mother and her child in Ludhiana on Wednesday. (HT PHOTO)

Rajesh Agarwal, divisional railway manager (DRM), Firozpur, said Jammu Tawi Bhagalpur Amarnath Festival Special arrived at platform number 1. “Sub-inspector Rita Devi, along with constables Dholi Yadav and Priya of special team Sakhi under Suraksha Kavach campaign, was checking the train. Meanwhile, they found a pregnant woman passenger, Havanti Devi, 24, travelling in coach S2, who was in need of urgent help,” he added.

Sensing the emergency, the RPF team alighted her from the train and called an ambulance to send her to hospital for delivery. SI Rita Devi said that after the woman developed labor pain, her team made arrangements to help her in childbirth. “We couldn’t wait for the ambulance as her condition was deteriorating, which would have proven fatal for both the woman and her baby. We helped her deliver the baby at the platform. The woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl,” she added.

“The ambulance was taking time to reach the railway station, so constable Dholi Yadav hired an auto and took her to civil hospital for further treatment,” the SI said.

The DRM said that both the newborn and mother are healthy. We have informed her husband about the childbirth, he added.

Division’s largest station has no ambulance service

Largest railway station of Firozpur division, Ludhiana junction, has no ambulance service. The railway station is dependent on 108 service, NGOs and other hospitals to send patients or accident victims to hospital.

A ticket checker had lost his life due to non-availability of ambulance when he had to wait for hours before reaching a hospital after losing one of his legs on April 26.