The baby was delivered at 7-28 a.m. with the help of some women passengers in the general compartment.
With a due date set for July 30, Ranjit Kumar and his wife Juli Devi were merely on their way to Safdarjung Hospital for a routine check-up on Sunday. But by the time they reached their destination, 27-year-old Juli had given birth to a baby girl inside a moving Delhi Metro train on the Badarpur-Central Secretariat line.
“My wife complained of stomach pain early on Sunday morning so we decided to go get a check-up done,” said Mr. Kumar, a resident of Faridabad. “By the time we reached Lajpat Nagar, the pain worsened and not many people were around in the compartment.”
The baby was delivered at 7-28 a.m. with the help of some women passengers in the general compartment.
The train came to a halt at Khan Market station after one of the passengers alerted the driver who in turn alerted the operation control centre of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. “The DMRC has a list of numbers for the hospital in the vicinity of every station. The control centre alerted the nearest hospital and called for an ambulance,” said a DMRC spokesperson.
The mother and the baby were then taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital by the Delhi Metro authorities who took care of all the other formalities at the hospital. “Initially, the hospital said that did not have facilities for a nursery. However, the metro staff immediately intervened and sorted out the issue,” said Mr. Kumar.
RML Hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr. T. S. Sidhu said: “The baby and the mother are doing well. The family will not incur any expenses as we provide services free of cost.”
The DMRC Managing Director had announced that the medical expenses of the family incurred at the hospital will be paid by the Delhi Metro.
Keywords: birth on train, DMRC, Juli Devi
