Gujarat woman delivers in Gir forest, baby gets lion's share of attention

Incidents of women delivering a baby in a moving train and mid-air have often made the news, however, this woman from Gujarat hit the headlines after she delivered a baby in an ambulance in the Gir forest area in the middle of the night on June 29.

Pride of Asiatic lions crossing Gujarat highway brings traffic to a halt (VIDEO)

But that's not the end of the story. The 32-year-old woman, Manguben Makwana, delivered the baby in the presence of 12 lions that surrounded the vehicle.

The incident took place near the Lunasapur village of Amreli district at around 2:30am when she was being shifted to the government hospital in Jafrabad town. But the ambulance was stopped midway in the middle of the forest when the on-duty emergency management technician (EMT) Ashok Makwana realised that Manguben could be delivering the baby anytime soon.

"When the ambulance was on its way to Jafarabad with Makwana, the on-duty emergency management technician (EMT) Ashok Makwana realised that she would give birth anytime, as the head of the baby was protruding out. Thus, he asked the driver Raju Jadav to stop the ambulance mid-way to deal with the emergency," Chetan Gaadhe, Emergency Management Executive of '108' in Amreli was quoted as saying by the NDTV.

Ashok immediately contacted a physician over the phone to ask for directions to deliver the baby. Meanwhile, a pride of lions, sensing humans' presence, emerged from the adjacent bushes and surrounded the ambulance. The pride of lions including three males blocked the passage of the vehicle and sat on the way.

"Though Jadav, a local, who understood the behaviour of lions, tried to scare them away, the lions refused to budge. Some of them even sat in front of the vehicle, blocking its passage," added Gaadhe.

While Gaadhe helped the woman to deliver the baby boy, the driver kept an eye on the lions.

'Later, Jadav started the ambulance and moved slowly so that lions would give way. Upon seeing the movement of the vehicle as well as the blinking of lights, the big cats eventually moved and gave way to the ambulance," said Gaadhe.

Both Manguben and boy are currently admitted to the Jafrabad hospital.