Army doctor helps woman deliver baby at Jhansi railway station; uses pocket knife, hair clips as ‘surgical tools'

Time of India

05-07-2025

LUCKNOW: Pocket knife, hair clips, and dhoti. These were the 'surgical tools' with which an army doctor helped a woman deliver a baby at the Virangana Laxmibai Jhansi railway station on Saturday afternoon.
Major Rohit Bachwala, 31, posted at Jhansi Military Hospital, was heading to Hyderabad via Bengaluru on a month-long leave to reunite with his family.
While waiting for his train at the railway station, he saw a pregnant woman in severe pain on the footover bridge. Acting quickly, Rohit used his pocket knife and improvised materials like hair clips and dhoti to assist in her delivery. Railway women staff stepped in to secure the area, ensuring privacy and safety during the process.
The staff also provided him with gloves.
"The mother and the newborn were stable post delivery. An ambulance was arranged to transport them to a nearby hospital for further care,' Major Rohit told TOI over phone.
'A woman TTE was taking the pregnant woman for medical assistance on a wheelchair. As she was brought out of lift on a footover bridge, the pregnant lady screamed in pain. I rushed towards her and with whatever resources I had helped her deliver the baby,' he added.
The woman was travelling from Panvel to Barabanki with her husband and child in Panvel-Gorakhpur Express 15066. Her husband had made SOS to the railway for medical assistance and the family was deboarded at the Jhansi station.
Major Rohit who hails from Hyderabad, is second from his family serving in the defence forces. His father Junior Warrant Office B R Vinod is a sky diving instructor, retired from the IAF.
In a statement, the Jhansi division of North Central Railway said, 'Railways was informed about the pregnant woman passenger, who had sought medical assistance through the Rail Madad app.
Promtly, the Jhansi control room was activated and a team was quickly prepared for medical assistance. As soon as the train reached Veerangana Laxmibai Jhansi station, the female passenger was attended to by a railway medical team and railway ticket checking staff.
'
Following the successful delivery, the women TTE staff express their gratitude to Major Rohit, saying he came as an angel in the hour of need.' TOI attempted to contact the mother of the newborn but she didn't respond to calls.
Speaking to TOI, Mohammad Zubair Quershi husband of Ashwarfalak Quershi who gave birth to a baby girl said, "I'm immensely grateful to the army doctor and the women railway staff who helped us in the delivery. In fact, in the evening Lili Kushwaha, the chief ticketing examiner who had helped us in the afternoon, visited us in the evening at the hospital and brought us food as well as clothes for the newly born."