When Surekha Tiwari, 26, went into labour in the wee hours of Thursday, she and her husband rushed to the doctor, never imagining that she would not see a hospital bed for nine whole hours. Turned away by two public hospitals, Surekha ended up giving birth inside her salwar in the general compartment of a local train around noon. Half an hour later, when they reached KEM hospital, doctors finally cut the umbilical cord.

Surekha and her husband, Sushil Tiwari, 32, first rushed to Tembha civic hospital in Bhayander around 3 am. There, the attendants gave her some medicine but told the couple to go to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivli, as her condition was critical.