Woman gives birth hours after landing in Kozhikode on repatriation flight from Riyadh

For Reena Thomson, it was a risky journey to fly home all the way from the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh to Kozhikode as she was in an advanced stage of pregnancy.

Thanks to the doctors and health care workers who took care of her, within hours of reaching her home town Chittur in Palakkad, Reena gave birth to a baby boy, proving her decision to be a right one.

Reena, employed as a staff nurse in a hospital in Riyadh, landed at Karipur International Airport at 10.30 pm on Friday by a flight that carried Non-Resident Keralites under the Vande Bharat Mission, launched by Government of India to bring home NRIs from different countries, in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

From the airport, the first time pregnant woman had an arduous journey by road before she reached home in Chittur at 3 am in the morning. As per the SOP set for returnees, her swab was immediately taken and sent to the Government Medical College Hospital for COVD-19 testing.

"Since she had started symptoms of labour within two hours of reaching home on Saturday, Reena was rushed to the Government Women and Children Hospital in Palakkad, where she underwent a Lower Segment Caesarean Section (LSCS), as she had no labour pain in progress. The baby, weighing 2.9 Kg, and the mother are doing fine," said Dr Sindhu, Gynaecologist, who attended her.

Reena is the wife of Thomson of Anathazhath house, Chittur.

( With inputs from ANI )