Thai woman gives birth to baby girl amid chaos of earthquake

BANGKOK - In the chaos of an earthquake, a Thai woman gave birth to a baby girl on a rolling bed in a hospital as it was being evacuated.

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake centred in neighbouring

Myanmar

on March 28 rattled buildings as far away as the Thai capital, Bangkok, leading to patients being evacuated to the first floor and outside buildings for safety.

Ms Kanthong Saenmuangshin, 36, had gone to hospital for a routine check-up but went into labour after the ground started shaking.

Ms Kanthong’s water broke while she was being escorted by medical staff of the Police General Hospital down five flights of stairs, and she was worried she would give birth on the stairway.

“I was telling my baby, don’t come out yet,” she said on March 29.

“Then I was put on a hospital bed and was surrounded by medical staff, where I just gave birth right then and there. It was all a shock to me,” she told Reuters.

Her husband was at work and could not make it to the hospital in time for the birth.

Relief came when her daughter was finally born. The ground had stopped shaking and the sight of the baby brought Ms Kanthong happiness.

She and her husband gave their baby a nickname, Mink. They have not yet decided on her official name and do not plan to give her any names related to the earthquake. REUTERS