This Sub-Inspector Helped A Woman Give Birth On A Railway Platform With A Doctor On Video Call. How Incredible Is This?
With everything going on in the world, it seems nearly impossible to come across any kind of good news. Incidents like people fighting over toilet paper, stone-pelting medical professionals and abandoning their neighbours when they test positive for the Coronavirus are proof that the pandemic is making us more and more selfish and self-centred by the day. It feels like we are lacking empathy and the basic sense of humanity. But once in a while, we do hear something that brings a smile on our face and our faith in humanity is restored.
On Wednesday, the scene on the Jhansi Railway Station was something straight out of a Bollywood movie (think, 3 Idiots). Some women from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) came forward to help a woman deliver her baby on a railway platform, while a doctor on a video call guiding them.
Sub-inspector Raj Kumari Gujjar, with her colleagues, successfully helped 20-year-old Pooja Kumar give birth. Pooja, who was travelling in the Goa Express with her husband developed labour pains but was in no condition to go to the hospital. That’s when her husband, Badshah, started looking for help on the railway station. He sought help from Raj Kumari who then called her doctor friend Neelu Kasotiya, a gynaecologist to guide them through the process.
With doc on video call, S-I helps woman deliver at railway platformhttps://t.co/geEZI4od8g
— Hindustan Times (@HindustanTimes) August 20, 2020
The process took about an hour and the woman delivered a baby girl. Both mother and baby were shifted to a local hospital after the delivery. Raj Kumari shared, “It all took more than an hour. However, the most pressing moment was when I was asked to cut the umbilical cord, my hands were trembling at that time.” She also said that holding the little girl was the most satisfying feeling ever.
The husband praised the efforts of Raj Kumari and the staff who helped his wife and facilitated the delivery. He said, “If they hadn’t helped, I may have had lost both of them.” It is incredible to see women, with no medical experience, turning up to assist another woman in need. They took into their own hands and brought a child into this world. If they hadn’t helped the young mother-to-be, she wouldn’t be alive today. They showed us that not all superheroes wear capes.
Although, this was not the first time that a woman has given birth on a railway station. In the lockdown, a lot of such deliveries have happened, since people are travelling by trains every day to get home, but mostly they have been conducted by the railway medical team. However, there was no medical staff available at the scene so the cops rushed to help and saved the mother and the baby.
Just a few weeks ago, a similar incident happened in Hangal, Karnataka when a bunch of neighbours helped a woman deliver a baby with a doctor on video call. Since the ambulance couldn’t reach on time as it had gone for COVID duty, the neighbours chipped in and conducted the delivery themselves with the help of Dr Priyanka Mantagi who is pursuing her postgraduate course in gynaecology and obstetrics at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi. She guided the women to follow precautions and cut the umbilical cord.
Karnataka: Guided By Doctor On Video Call, Women With No Medical Knowledge Help Neighbour Deliver A Babyhttps://t.co/9vhLH0TdUb
— Swarajya (@SwarajyaMag) July 31, 2020
We are happy the baby and mother are safe and healthy. The job done by RPF staff at the Jhansi Railway Station is truly commendable. It is so rare these days to see someone going out of their way and helping someone in need. Yes, it’s a unfortunate fact. But coming across incidents like these, especially during the pandemic restores our faith. While people are fighting over petty things and venting out their frustration on their partners, it scares me to think what this evil will turn us into. But it’s good to know there are people, like Raj Kumari, who will still come forth to help a complete stranger on a railway platform. In the end, I would just like to salute the efforts of Raj Kumari Gujjar and her colleagues who pulled off the successful delivery and saved the mother-daughter duo.
