An army doctor from 120 Battalion, Bhubaneswar, facilitated delivery of a baby on board a running train with both the mother and newborn girl reportedly safe. Appreciations are flying thick and fast from several quarters for the compassion and professionalism of the doctor on social media and news platforms as well as in the physician’s native village Naugaon in Jagatsinghpur district.
The Army doctor identified as Dr Biplab Biswakeshari Mohanty, only son of Lingaraj Mohanty and Bijayalaxmi Mohanty, a resident of Arakhapari village in Naugaon, was returning to his village by Hirakhand Express from Madhya Pradesh on September 1.
Pregnant Tarabai Patel from Champa district of Chhattisgarh accompanying her husband and kin boarded the train at the Sagar railway station. The train was about 30 km from the station when the woman’s husband pulled the chain to halt the train and the ticket collector and guard were looking for a doctor on the train. After knowing the fact, Dr Mohanty went to attend to the pregnant and found that she was bleeding profusely and was recoiling in pain.
By the request of Dr Mohanty, the passengers vacated the compartment and some women passengers helped convert the compartment into a makeshift delivery room. An aged woman passenger offered her help to Dr Mohanty in the delivery.
The delivery was complicated, but applying his medical experiences, Dr Mohanty facilitated safe delivery of the baby after struggling for 45 minutes without medical kits and urgently required medicines.
As the train chugged into the nearest station, a team led by a woman doctor and a nurse from the railway hospital took charge of the situation and the new parents were allowed to continue their travel with medication to their destination.