By Express News Service CHENNAI : A woman police inspector turned a midwife after she found a pregnant woman crying for help at Choolaimedu in the wee hours of Friday. She helped the woman deliver a child, a male, and ensured that both were admitted at the hospital for further treatment.Crime inspector Chitra of Choolaimedu police station, was on her weekly night rounds as usual when she found a pregnant woman crying for help at a critical stage on Nelson Manickam Road. When inquired, the woman said her husband had gone to get an autorickshaw to take her to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital and that she was unable to bear the labour pain. Chitra said she did not have any experience in assisting in childbirth and never imagined a day will when she will have to act as a midwife.“Chitra decided to take the woman in her vehicle to the hospital. But the condition was such that another elderly woman who was at the spot, advised the inspector against taking her in her vehicle,” said another police officer. With time running out, Chitra asked her driver to alert ‘108’ ambulance and mustered courage to attend the emergency situation. She covered the woman with a towel from her vehicle and helped her safely deliver the child. She cut the umbilical cord with a knife she had and tied it with a thread from the vehicle. That is when the ambulance came and her husband also reached the spot. She sent both the mother and the child in the ambulance. “It was all over in 15 minutes, but I will never forget the incident for the rest of my life. I never knew if I would be able to do it and I did not have time even to think about it. All that was in my mind was that two lives were at risk,” the inspector said. Only after sending them in the ambulance, she realised that she did not even ask the woman’s name. Her husband told the inspector that her name is Banumathi and that they were from Sowrashtra Nagar at Nungambakkam.“I asked for the name and the address because I wanted to visit the child later,” she said. Meanwhile, Banumathi and the newborn have been admitted at KMC and are said to be doing fine. Police said the couple did not have a phone to call the ambulance and this was their second child.The woman officer and her driver were appreciated and rewarded by police commissioner A K Viswanathan in person on Saturday. Chitra’s husband works in BSNL. The couple have three children.

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