Doctor helps Bengaluru woman deliver baby on moving train

For a doctor, call of duty may come any time and this was true for Dr Vidya Deshmukh who was on her way to Varanasi from Jagadalpur in Chhattisgarh.

  Deshmukh boarded the Patna-bound Saghamitra Express at Nagpur on Thursday where she had to attend to a pregnant woman and help her deliver a baby. 

Twenty five-year-old Sabha Parvin, who had boarded the train at Bengaluru was travelling in a sleeper coach, while the doctor was in the AC coach. Parvin developed labour pain when the train was crossing Itarsi station in Madhya Pradesh around 4 pm. 

The next station, Piparya, was an hour away but time was running out as the amniotic sac (bag of water) that surrounds the baby burst. 

Immediately co-passengers alerted TTE Ganesh Swarup, who located Deskhmukh after scanning the passengers list. 

As the doctor arrived to the spot, the TTE and others cleared off all the male passengers from the coach and allowed only two women passengers to stay there to help the doctor.  They put bedsheets as curtains, and other passengers contributed with whatever they had at their disposal, which included tissues, sanitisers, plastic bags and oil.  Deshmukh, a social activist who treats patients for free, helped the women deliver a healthy baby girl around 4.45 pm. 

As the mother and baby were healthy, Deshmukh advised them to travel till their destination (Patna) and consult a  doctor there. 

Parvin, who was staying in Bengaluru with her husband, was travelling to her parents home at Patna for delivery along with her five-year-old son. 

Soon after the delivery, the doctor also got another call about labour pain by a pregnant woman at S 9 coach. 

Deshmukh immediately rushed there and found that though the lady had developed pain, it was not at an advanced stage.

She gave her some medicines and advised her to de-board at Allahabad station and go to a hospital immediately.  Deshmukh told Deccan Herald that “my job is to help the needy. I did my duty”. 

She is associated with Avadhoot Bhagwan Kusta Seva Ashram of Varanasi, which has treated the maximum number of leprosy patients in the world.