Indian woman gives birth in an ambulance surrounded by lions

Footage from the incident where a pride of around 12 lions obstructed an ambulance carrying a pregnant woman in India PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM YOUTUBE/SANDESH NEWS

It's a story she will likely be telling her child for years to come - a pregnant woman in Lunsapur village, located in Gujarat, India, was forced to deliver her baby in an ambulance after the vehicle was blocked by about a dozen lions.

The incident occurred about 3 km from the woman's village on Wednesday (June 28), the Times of India reported.

The ambulance had been en route to the hospital with the woman, who was in labour, when it encountered the pride blocking the road. The paramedics decided to wait for the lions to leave, but as time passed, the woman began to bleed and the animals would not budge.

The decision was then made to deliver the baby in the ambulance itself.

Amreli District head of the 108 Ambulance service, Chetan Gadhia, told the Times of India: "The staff contacted our physician over (the) phone and gave details of (the woman's) vitals. Based on this, the physician gave (approval) for delivery. The delivery took about 25 minutes, and the entire time the lions were moving around the ambulance."

After the delivery, the baby was placed in the vehicle's baby warmer and the driver tried to drive forward.

Eventually, the lions got off the road and the mother and her child were taken to the Jafrabad government hospital.

According to Mr Gadhia, lions are a frequent sight in interior villages in the area. He said that his staff were trained to deal with situations like the one on Wednesday, and that this was not the first time paramedics had encountered lions while on call.

He added: "In some situation our staff has to walk for kilometres as there is no road for the ambulance."

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