Co-passengers Help Woman Deliver Baby On-board UP-bound Shramik Special Train from Bengaluru

A woman on-board a Lucknow-bound ‘Shramik Special’ trainfrom Bengaluru delivered a baby during her two-day journey back home.

A group of daily wagers had reached out to a Forest Service officer asking for help to be accommodated in the train leaving for Lucknow. The officer, Dipika Bajpai, with the help of the local police managed to arrange tickets for labourers.

However, none of the officers was aware that there was a nine-month pregnant woman among them. The woman's husband, Sandeep, a construction worker in Bengaluru, said they boarded the train on Friday.

"While on-board, the woman, named Sangeeta, had contractions and went into labour. As there was no doctor on the train, the other women in the group acted as midwives and helped her deliver a baby girl," the officer said.

The couple were on their way to their native village Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh. Sandeep said his wife gave birth to the baby girl on Friday as the

train approached Bina station in Madhya Pradesh.

It was only when the group was hours away from their destination that they informed the officer. Sandeep said his co-travellers informed Deputy Commissioner of Police (Whitefield Division) MN Anucheth and Bajpai, who are working for migrants' needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, then alerted their batch mates in Uttar Pradesh.

The couple alighted at Lucknow, after which the woman and her newborn were taken to a hospital by an ambulance. "The doctors did a medical check and gave some medicines.. We then continued with our journey on a government bus to our home town Balrampur," Sandeep said.

Hemant Nimbalkar, Inspector General of Police and Additional Commissioner of Police (Administration), Bengaluru, said the woman had boarded the Shramik Special train without informing the authorities about her condition.

"Her relatives too did not inform the authorities about her pregnancy. In fact, the pregnant woman insisted on going back to her home town," said Nimbalkar.

Sharing the joy along with the photograph of the woman, Nimbalkar wrote on Twitter, "We made it @BlrCityPolice (Bengaluru City Police)! The mother and baby are fine & healthy..."

Director General of Police Praveen Sood too wished the family well, tweeting, "A new dawn...wishing the newborn a healthy beginning."

(With inputs from PTI)