Returning from Odisha, migrant woman delivers baby girl in bus

Dumka: A migrant woman, Sonia Devi, who was travelling from Odisha ’s Baleshwar to Godda, delivered a baby girl in a bus while the vehicle was passing through Dumka in the wee hours of Wednesday. The woman is a resident of Doba village in Godda district.

Godda deputy commissioner Kiran Kumari Paasi said: “The matter came to light after the bus reached Godda College on Wednesday morning.” The college is the reception centre for the district’s incoming migrants, she added.

Sonia and her newborn were then taken to Godda Sadar hospital. Both the mother and the child were declared fit after a medical examination there.

Paasi said all the migrants on board the sleeper bus were employed as brick-kiln workers in Odisha’s Baleshwar, which is categorised as a red zone. “The blood and swab samples of the mother and the child have been collected for Covid-19 test,” the DC added.

Sonia’s husband Tej Kumar Manjhi said, ‘Women passengers helped my wife deliver the baby.”

Godda civil surgeon Dr S P Mishra said Manjhi and Sonia risked the health of their newborn by not seeking medical help along the transit route. “Thankfully, both the mother and the child are healthy. They have been provided post-natal care at the sadar hospital,” he said.