“During my training in the MBBS House Surgency, we were taught about emergency trauma management. However, it’s practically challenging to imagine a situation where one needs to perform surgery on a moving train without the basic surgery tools. Thankfully, I was able to succeed in ensuring safe delivery during such a traumatic situation amid the lack of basic equipment.

I was travelling to Vishakapatnam from my hometown in Vijayawada in a 3-tier AC compartment of Duranto Express to attend my final semester classes of MBBS at Gitam Institute of Medical Sciences. It was early in the morning and we were all asleep before I realised that there was a pregnant woman in the compartment who was indeed suffering from labour pains. The pregnant mother was from Srikakulam and developed labour pain at around 3.30 a.m. when the train was close to Annavaram.

I remember the husband of the pregnant woman
shouting for help and I immediately stepped in for help by introducing myself that I am an MBBS student.

When I first attended to the woman, the baby was in the crowning stage. It was very challenging to bring the baby out.

Honestly, I was slightly worried because the placenta had not come out for about 40-45 minutes. But with persistent pushing and performing the labour message procedures, the baby was finally delivered at around 5:35 in the morning.
It was a baby girl and at that moment, I certainly felt 10,000 times happier than I did when I got an MBBS seat.

Everyone was so relieved when the baby came out.
As no equipment was available on the train, I had to use the things like bed sheets and a cover to perform the post-delivery work. I waited for a while to remove the placenta from the woman manually, but as there was no equipment available to cut the placenta, I wrapped the baby in a cover to create a warm environment as it was an air-conditioned compartment.

The mother and baby were shifted to the hospital near Anakapalli station only after one and a half hours as the train had no stops in between. At Anakapalli station, the mother and the newborn were shifted to NTR government hospital in an ambulance which was kept ready. I accompanied them to the hospital and apprised the doctors about the premature delivery of the child who was placed in an incubator. The mother and baby are doing fine now.

Well, I am extremely grateful to my parents, well-wishers and professors who were of constant support throughout my journey so far.

This incident will surely be a lifetime memorable experience for me and I know that I will have to be prepared to handle such situations in the future too!”