PETALING JAYA – A simple sharing on Twitter by a doctor on his experience in dealing with emergency calls went viral recently.
Medical officer at the Sanggang health clinic in Pahang, Dr Muhammad Aliff Md Zaki, detailed in a thread how they received a distress call about a mother who was about to give birth in a lorry that was travelling on the East Coast Highway (LPT), specifically at KM121 Kuantan-bound.
He said there was minimal information from the call on the mother's condition so the doctor had to make sure they would be prepared for the worst.
The sharing was even more heart-tugging as the first tweet was accompanied by a photo of himself cradling the newborn, next to the lorry, by the side of the highway.
He said on the way to the location, the emergency team's thoughts were focused on what they were walking into, the mother's condition, she had already given birth while waiting for them and if she did, how the baby was doing.
When they arrived at the location, two policemen were already there manning traffic as the lorry was parked by the side of the road.
"On the grass, we saw clothes that were soaked in blood and faecal matter," he said.
They immediately asked where the mother was and were told she was in the back seat of the lorry's cab.
"Climbing into the lorry that was the size of Optimus Prime, I saw two figures lying down. The mother's eyes were closed and the baby was between her thighs. My heart was racing. I called out to the mother 'Ma'am can you hear me? Open your eyes please.' The mother opened her eyes and said she could hear me. I felt so relieved," Dr Muhammad Alif said.
The doctor said he then turned his attention to the baby who was not moving.
He held the baby's foot and gently flicked the sole of the foot. He was flooded with relief again as the baby let out a soft cry.
Dr Muhammad Alif said he proceeded to do the necessary things such as cutting the umbilical cord while another medical team member attended to the mother.
He wrapped the baby in a towel and brought the newborn out of the lorry.
As the team was earlier dropped off by the ambulance on the other side of the highway, they loaded the mother and her newborn into the ambulance after it made a u-turn to get to their side of the road.
Both were taken to the Sultan Ahmad Shah Hospital in Kuantan.
Acknowledging it as an experience of a lifetime, Dr Muhammad Alif thanked the LPT workers, policemen and the hospital's labour room staff for their help.
Speaking to Utusan Malaysia, Dr Muhammad Alif said the mother did not expect she would go into labour as her due date was not until the end of the year. At the time of the unexpected labour, she was accompanying her husband on a trip. – The Vibes, October 21, 2023
