A nurse who returned to India from Maldives on INS Jalashwa gave birth to a baby boy on Sunday evening.
Sonia Jacob, working as a nurse in a hospital in Maldives, was among the 19 pregnant women who were repatriated to Kerala's Kochi port on Sunday morning at 9.30 am on the Navy warship.
Ms Jacob, who has had six miscarriages in past, was repatriated to India on priority as she was pregnant. Soon, after completing the immigration process at the Kochi port, she started feeling discomfort and was rushed to a nearby mother and child care hospital and from there to another.
Ms Jacob delivered a baby boy through cesarean section (surgery) at 5.40 pm at a private hospital. Her husband Shiny, is a nurse in Kerala. And this is the first child of the couple, who have been married for six years.
INS Jalashwa brought back a total of 698 Indian citizens from Maldives who were stranded in the island nation due to the COVID-19-linked travel restrictions.
Lakhs of stranded Indians, in distress, have registered with the state and central government to be repatriated and those who have managed to return are all based on a priority list - including pregnant women, elderly, people with medical emergencies or needs, those who have lost jobs among others.
The Navy had made special preparations for the massive programme under the Vande Bharat mission, which is claimed to be the biggest repatriation exercise ever.
(With inputs from PTI)
