It was no ordinary train ride for a 26-year-old pregnant woman. She delivered a baby inside a ladies’ coach last night. The fast local, headed for Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, was somewhere near Dadar when Salma Shaikh went into labour. On seeing her condition, fellow passengers tried to calm her down and informed the railway police. A doctor and support staff from One Rupee Clinic on Dadar station rushed to help her.

A quick examination revealed that the baby was crowning so there was no time to take Salma to a hospital. Dr Prajwaleet Kambli then decided to perform the delivery inside the ladies compartment. The mother and her newborn girl were shifted to the nearby KEM hospital. Both are stable now.

Nurse Sanjeevani Padwal, who assisted the doctor, said she had never seen anything of this sort. “We thought we will just help her get to the platform so that she can be taken to the hospital in an ambulance, but by then it was too late.”

Two months ago, another woman delivered a baby in a local train with the help of One Rupee Clinic staff at Ghatkopar Station.

To provide prompt and affordable medical assistance, the Central Railways in Mumbai had started “One Rupee Clinics” at many stations across Mumbai. The first clinic was opened at Ghatkopar railway station on May 10, 2017. Officials say that the move is benefiting passengers during medical exigencies. While the consultation fee at these clinics is Re 1, a blood pressure check-up is done free of cost. The charges for other tests are affordable.