Posted on 01/16/2012 9:05:21 PM PST by EinNYC
A NEW JERSEY woman gave birth on a PATH train Monday as straphangers pitched in to help her panicked husband deliver a boy they nicknamed “Fast.”
Rabita Sarker, 31, of Harrison, N.J., said she thought she was just experiencing false labor pains when she boarded the train at the Journal Square station in Jersey City.
But as the train rumbled into Manhattan just before 10 a.m., the false alarm became a full-blown emergency.
“He decided to come and that was it. Nothing could stop him. Nothing could keep him inside for longer,” said Sarker, showing off her first-born child at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital.
“I don’t think anybody could actually dream of such a delivery,” said Sarker, an Indian immigrant.
Sarker and her 30-year-old husband, Aditya Saurabh, said they were already headed to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt — believing it would just be a practice run for the real thing.
“We were coming here to check if it was false labor or not,” she said. “I was like, ‘Okay, I’m just doing it for peace of mind.’ ”
Fearing the Lincoln Tunnel would be too crowded, they decided to take the PATH. The couple figured they’d grab a cab to the hospital from W. 33rd St.
“He had other ideas,” she said, nodding at her son sleeping in her arms, swaddled in a white blanket and wearing a cozy cap.
Reliving the ordeal, Sarker said she knew something was wrong shortly after boarding the train.
“Then I felt the baby come out,” she said.
Even then she couldn’t believe the baby was really emerging and had her husband double-check.
She said an elderly woman seated in front of her volunteered to help.
“She asked me, ‘Where are you headed to?’ I said. ‘33rd, then to the hospital at 59th,’ ” Sarker said. “Then she told me, ‘You can’t wait.’ ”
When the baby was born, Saurabh placed him on her stomach. Other passengers alerted the conductor, who radioed ahead for an ambulance to meet the train.
“As the train came into the station, the woman had already given birth,” said Port Authority Police Sgt. Mike Barry, who was waiting on the platform with two other officers, paramedics and blankets.
“That’s a good baby,” said Barry, who checked in on the family Monday afternoon. “He barely made a peep.”
The new parents have yet to name their son. But for the time being, they are calling him “Jhatpat” — the Hindi word for “Fast.”
Yes, I saw this on the news. Too funny they thought they were on a “trial run”. I’m glad mother and baby are doing well.
Wonderful! And the boy will have a great story to tell when he grows up.
It’s a good thing she didn’t decide to stay home till the contractions were 2 min apart lol! On the other hand, she would have been more comfortable!
It’s a good thing she didn’t decide to stay home till the contractions were 2 min apart lol! On the other hand, she would have been more comfortable!
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