Woman delivers baby inside car outside private hospital in Kerala

Kochi, Jan 4 (PTI) A 21-year-old woman delivered a baby boy inside a car after doctors attended to her at the emergency entrance of a private hospital here on Sunday morning, hospital authorities said.

According to doctors at VPS Lakeshore Hospital, the woman went into advanced labour moments after reaching the emergency department premises.

"On noticing her labour pain, emergency physician Dr Adil Ashraf rushed to the emergency entrance, where the baby was already crowning. As there was no time to move the patient inside without risking complications, the delivery was conducted inside the car," the hospital said in a statement.

The woman had travelled from Kannur with her family and reached Aroor to attend a marriage function.

Although her expected date of delivery was January 22, she developed labour pain at around 3 am and was initially taken to a nearby hospital in Aroor, where medication was administered to reduce contractions, the statement said.

However, as the pain intensified at around 8 am, the family decided to proceed to the hospital.

Following the delivery, the mother was shifted to the labour room for postnatal care, while the newborn was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for observation.

Hospital authorities said both the mother and the baby are stable and doing well.

Commenting on the incident, Ashraf said that by the time the patient reached the emergency entrance, the baby was already coming out, and any attempt to move her further could have led to complications.

A family member said the timely intervention by the hospital team saved the lives of both the mother and the newborn.

"The situation was extremely critical. The doctors and staff acted swiftly and ensured both the mother and baby were safe," the family member said. PTI TBA SSK