An all-male crew on a Vietnamese train managed to help a passenger give birth to a healthy baby girl on Sunday, thanks to remote instructions given by an obstetrician.

Lang Thi Mau did not expect to go into labor when she boarded a train from Binh Duong Province in southern Vietnam to return to her hometown in the north-central province of Nghe An on Sunday — after all, her estimated due date was 20 days ahead.

Mau and her husband, who lives in Binh Duong for work, had planned for her to give birth in Nghe An.

However, things did not go quite as planned.

She went into labor while the train was traversing the Hai Van Pass, heading from Da Nang City to Thua Thien – Hue Province in central Vietnam on Sunday.

“The only thing I could do was ask the conductors for help, as I was in excruciating pain,” Mau recalled.

Train conductor Tran Van Tri responded by asking over the intercom if there was any doctor on board, only to find out that there was none.

“However, one passenger said he knew an obstetrician,” Tri recalled, adding that he immediately asked the passenger to put the doctor on a video call.

“The obstetrician guided us through the process of child delivery remotely. We just followed her instructions step by step,” Tri said humbly.

The incident was promptly reported to the management board of Hue Railway Station, who mobilized a medical task force to support the woman and her baby girl once the train stopped in Hue.

“The train pulled up at Hue Station about ten minutes after the child was born. We had barely come to a complete halt when doctors boarded the train to cut the umbilical cord of the child,” Mau said.

Only after the doctors had declared Mau and her child safe and sound did the whole crew gained a sense of relief and continued on their journey to northern Vietnam.

Despite the premature birth, the child was found to be healthy and weighed as much as three kilograms.

“It was very fortunate for me to travel with a capable and dedicated crew. They ensured the safety of me and my child,” Mau said.

Thinking back on the events, Tri still found his heart racing as it was the first time he had encountered a case of the sort in his decades-long career of conducting trains.

“I saw the child as one of my own. Putting myself in the shoes of the father, I would feel extremely remorseful if anything was to happen to my child,” Tri admitted.

Nguyen Thanh Khanh, director of the Hue branch of Vietnam Railways, said Mau and her husband can claim a full refund for their final leg from Hue to Vinh Station in Nghe An in case they choose to get home using another mode of transport.

“We are sending staff members to check on Mau and her child on a daily basis. This is a special case and we’re glad that both the mother and child are safe,” Khanh said.

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