Homeless woman in Delhi delivers baby on footpath

For Lakshmi, who has been living on the street in the national capital, it was a long cold Wednesday night.

The 33-year-old woman delivered a baby on a footpath in south Delhi after she and her family of four did not find a place to sleep as all the night shelters around Barapullah area were full.

Though she got help from locals and the baby was delivered, her ordeal started after that.

“For 18 hours after the baby was born, the umbilical cord was not separated, which could have led to serious health implications for both the mother and the child. It was only after we got to know from a night rescue team that we called an ambulance and got them admitted to Safdarjung hospital,” Sunil Kumar Aledia, head of NGO Centre for Holistic Development (CHD), said.

Aledia said the Delhi government has only two shelter homes for pregnant and lactating women but they do not have any rescue and recovery mechanism in place.

Lakshmi and her husband Babloo, who is a daily wager, and their two children have been living on the city’s streets for the past seven years. The family belongs to Jharkhand and had moved to the capital city looking for work to earn a living.

The mother and the baby girl are still at the hospital where they are being given due care, Aledia said.

“The matter has come to our notice. We will make all efforts to rehabilitate the mother and the child to a shelter home and later shift them to the women’s lactating care home,” said Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board member Bipin Rai.

First Published: Jan 04, 2019 12:20 IST