One beautiful, sunny Thursday in summer, my husband and I were travelling to London for a weekend away. 

We boarded a Virgin express train from Bank Quay station in Warrington and quietly sat on our seats in the economy class ready to enjoy the scenery of the countryside as we journeyed to the city of London. 

About ten minutes into the journey, I noticed a heavily pregnant woman walk past us, approaching the toilet. Not quite five minutes after a man walked past us briskly also approaching the toilet. Almost immediately the same man ran back shouting “My wife is about to push our baby out, can anyone help?” Straight away my husband nudged me and shouted back “My wife is a Midwife; Abi go and help” 

With a mixture of anxiety and trembling inside of me I got up, not knowing what to expect and hurriedly approached the toilet. 

On getting there, I saw this young woman sitting on the floor, groaning in pain and in established labour.  

With a surge of adrenaline, I swung into action, using a pair of nylon gloves from the kitchen on the train as the only available PPE. Upon examination the lady was about nine centimetres dilated, Baby’s head had crowned, and mum was already pushing. 

With the help of God and the encouragement/assistance of the female crew members, I successfully delivered a beautiful 36-week-old baby girl. Other passengers on the train clapped when they heard the newborn baby cry. 

The other crew members had already contacted the NHS 999 crew and the medical team were waiting for us at Crewe. 

The newly delivered baby was wrapped warmly in Towels provided by the crew members. New mum was stable, no excessive bleeding, placenta safely delivered, and mum cleaned up. 

The train stopped at Crewe where the emergency crew were waiting for us, mum and baby were handed over to the medical team. 

At that moment, I felt overwhelmed by emotions, and I burst into tears of joy, other passengers thanked me and looked at me like one who had performed a feat, but I was just happy that I was able to help. 

We continued the journey to London, the train crew offered us seats in the first class, but we declined. The following week I received a massive bouquet delivered to my home from Virgin Trains. 

Abiodun Abimbola