BENGALURU/HOSUR: A 27-year-old pregnant woman travelling to Bengaluru delivered a premature baby boy inside the toilet of the Mayiladuthurai-Mysore Express (Thanjavur Express) early Wednesday as the train approached Hosur. Unfortunately, the infant died an hour later at a hospital in Hosur.
A railway official at Hosur railway station (which falls under the Bangalore railway division) told TNIE that the mother Saranya, a native of Nagapattinam, and her husband were travelling to Bengaluru in the S4 coach of Train no. 16231. “The woman was only in her sixth month of pregnancy and suffered a miscarriage. She ended up delivering her baby prematurely in the toilet of the coach around 4.25 am. As soon as the train reached Hosur railway station, a passenger approached the Station Master’s cabin requesting for an ambulance urgently,” he said.
The official said the ambulance reached within three minutes since a passenger on the train too had called for it even before the train reached the station. The train was stopped for 21 minutes at Hosur, said a railway official.
According to On-Duty Station Manager at Hosur, S Kumaran, “I gathered information from my staff at the spot who helped them. Both the mother and baby were conscious and alright when they reached the railway station. The ambulance took both immediately to the Government Hospital at Hosur.”
Another official told TNIE that the baby weighed just 600 gm and was placed in an incubator instantly. “(But) The baby died within an hour. The mother is reported to be in good health,” the official said.
Explaining the condition of the baby, Dr Shaktivel, Paediatrician at the hospital, said, “The baby was deeply asphyxiated and had an extremely low birth weight of 600 gm. He could not be resuscitated and was declared dead.” The mother left the hospital after her treatment around 4 pm.