Woman gives birth inside fire brigade van in Kendrapada

BHUBANESWAR: Cyclone Amphan could not have come at a worse time for Janaki Sethi, a pregnant woman of Jhanhara village in Kendrapada district. As nature unleashed its fury, she gave birth to a baby girl on Wednesday. The delivery neither happened in any labour room of a hospital nor at her home. The baby came into the world inside a fire brigade van that came to her rescue amid the bad weather condition.
Janaki, 20, went into labour in the early hours of Wednesday amid heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds. Though her family members dialled 108 for ambulance service, the vehicle could not reach their home as the road to her village was blocked by uprooted trees.
“We were very tensed on seeing my wife in such excruciating pain. We were desperately looking for a vehicle to take her to the hospital. I then dialled 101 fire service for help. They reached in time and saved my wife and baby,” her husband Hatin Sethi, a small-time trader of the locality, said with tears welling up in his eyes.
The fire service personnel said reaching their village in the torrential rain was not an easy task. “Our personnel cleared 22 fallen trees from the road by using power saws. Seeing the condition of the pregnant woman, the fire service personnel swung into action, removed the trees and drove to her village. She was immediately shifted to the fire brigade vehicle and taken to a nearby community health centre at Mahakalpada. Utmost care was taken to ensure her comfort and dignity in the vehicle. Midway to the hospital, she gave birth to a baby girl,” inspector general of police (fire service) Asheet Panigrahi said.
A senior fire officer said the mother and the baby are fine. Apprehending hostile weather, the state government had alerted all hospitals to be prepared to handle critical patients during this period. “We have asked ambulance service providers to contact police and fire service for any assistance,” a health official said.
Praising the fire personnel, chief minister Naveen Patnaik tweeted, “I congratulate the fire service personnel and wish well-being of the baby.