As the sun rose over the Thai capital on a weekday morning this summer, 23-year-old Noppamas Phinsoongnern felt the first pains of labour.
She told boyfriend Phongsatorn Kamsom, 20, and the two hurried out of their apartment in central Bangkok, hailing a taxi to take them to a hospital just a few kilometres away.
But as the taxi reached the main road, they found traffic at a standstill, even though it was only 6am. Then, even more worryingly: the baby decided it was coming.
"I didn't know what to do," Phongsatorn said. "I was panicking. I called the emergency centre. They told me to calm down and that a doctor was on the way."
At that moment, veteran police officer Mana Jokoksung was directing early-morning rush-hour traffic in another part of town when his radio crackled and a voice came over, requesting his assistance. He left his post and climbed onto his motorbike, flipped on the police lights and sirens, and raced toward the stranded taxi.
Mr Mana, who has been with the city police for 17 years, is part of the specially trained Royal Traffic Police Unit, set up to handle precisely this type of traffic-related medical emergency. The idea is to provide advanced medical training to police officers, who can generally reach an emergency scene the fastest.
An ambulance with paramedics often follows, but the first response by motorbike police can make all the difference.
"If we need to, we'll drive on the sidewalks or in the opposite direction of traffic," Mr Mana said. "We do everything we can to get there as fast as possible."
Bangkok is a sprawling metropolis of more than 8 million people, legendary for its unpredictable traffic jams that can turn a breezy 20-minute commute into a grinding hour-long crawl.
Officers in the special unit have helped deliver a total of 121 babies, while escorting more than 2,600 pregnant women to the hospital. The officers are only authorized to deliver a baby if the mother feels she cannot make it to the hospital in time.
On average, the officers deliver one or two babies a month, they said.
Reaching the taxi, Mana retrieved a sterilized mobile birthing kit out of his motorbike's top box, pulled on a pair of medical gloves and proceeded to help bring a healthy baby boy into the world.
It was his 56th delivery, making him by far the senior midwife of the special unit.
"I felt relieved and secure when I saw the police officer arrive," Phongsatorn said. "I was worried the baby would be in danger. But I was puzzled when he started to handle the baby. I'd never seen anything like it before."
A dozen Bangkok police officers this year have received emergency obstetrics training at a local hospital as part of the programme. Mr Mana also helps teach regular refresher courses at the police station using lifelike newborn dolls.
The special unit was founded in 1993 with an 8-million-baht donation from the royal palace. The money was used to purchase new motorbikes, radios and other equipment.
Besides receiving training in obstetrics, the officers also learn how to provide general emergency-medical care, as well as how to conduct basic car and motorcycle repairs.
Roadside births in the Thai capital most commonly involve women who are pregnant with their second or third child, which are considered easier births, or migrant workers who tend to go to the hospital only in an emergency, the officers said.
Others simply wait too long to leave home or cannot find a car to take them to the hospital.
The most important piece of equipment in the birthing kit, besides the sterile gloves, is a small rubber suction device used to remove fluid from the baby's mouth and nose that might obstruct its airways.
Newly trained officers are often nervous about the idea of delivering their first baby, but Mr Mana said the feeling is only natural.
"The first few times, I could hardly pull on my gloves, I was shaking so hard," he said. "It took me a long time to make a decision. I couldn't think straight with all the chaos around me."
"My heart throbbed like it was going to explode," he added. "After about my fifth time, it started to get easier."
At the site of most roadside births, crowds of onlookers tend to gather around the car, Mr Mana said. Part of the officers' challenge is to keep people from getting too close, "so they don't violate the patient's rights to privacy," he added.
People often cheer when they hear the baby crying, he said.
As for the young Thai couple whose baby he delivered in June, their experience made such an impression that they gave him the nickname "Tax," short for "Taxi.
As the sun rose over the Thai capital on a weekday morning this summer, 23-year-old Noppamas Phinsoongnern felt the first pains of labour.
She told boyfriend Phongsatorn Kamsom, 20, and the two hurried out of their apartment in central Bangkok, hailing a taxi to take them to a hospital just a few kilometres away.
But as the taxi reached the main road, they found traffic at a standstill, even though it was only 6am. Then, even more worryingly: the baby decided it was coming.
"I didn't know what to do," Phongsatorn said. "I was panicking. I called the emergency centre. They told me to calm down and that a doctor was on the way."
At that moment, veteran police officer Mana Jokoksung was directing early-morning rush-hour traffic in another part of town when his radio crackled and a voice came over, requesting his assistance. He left his post and climbed onto his motorbike, flipped on the police lights and sirens, and raced toward the stranded taxi.
Mr Mana, who has been with the city police for 17 years, is part of the specially trained Royal Traffic Police Unit, set up to handle precisely this type of traffic-related medical emergency. The idea is to provide advanced medical training to police officers, who can generally reach an emergency scene the fastest.
An ambulance with paramedics often follows, but the first response by motorbike police can make all the difference.
"If we need to, we'll drive on the sidewalks or in the opposite direction of traffic," Mr Mana said. "We do everything we can to get there as fast as possible."
Bangkok is a sprawling metropolis of more than 8 million people, legendary for its unpredictable traffic jams that can turn a breezy 20-minute commute into a grinding hour-long crawl.
Officers in the special unit have helped deliver a total of 121 babies, while escorting more than 2,600 pregnant women to the hospital. The officers are only authorized to deliver a baby if the mother feels she cannot make it to the hospital in time.
On average, the officers deliver one or two babies a month, they said.
Reaching the taxi, Mana retrieved a sterilized mobile birthing kit out of his motorbike's top box, pulled on a pair of medical gloves and proceeded to help bring a healthy baby boy into the world.
It was his 56th delivery, making him by far the senior midwife of the special unit.
"I felt relieved and secure when I saw the police officer arrive," Phongsatorn said. "I was worried the baby would be in danger. But I was puzzled when he started to handle the baby. I'd never seen anything like it before."
A dozen Bangkok police officers this year have received emergency obstetrics training at a local hospital as part of the programme. Mr Mana also helps teach regular refresher courses at the police station using lifelike newborn dolls.
The special unit was founded in 1993 with an 8-million-baht donation from the royal palace. The money was used to purchase new motorbikes, radios and other equipment.
Besides receiving training in obstetrics, the officers also learn how to provide general emergency-medical care, as well as how to conduct basic car and motorcycle repairs.
Roadside births in the Thai capital most commonly involve women who are pregnant with their second or third child, which are considered easier births, or migrant workers who tend to go to the hospital only in an emergency, the officers said.
Others simply wait too long to leave home or cannot find a car to take them to the hospital.
The most important piece of equipment in the birthing kit, besides the sterile gloves, is a small rubber suction device used to remove fluid from the baby's mouth and nose that might obstruct its airways.
Newly trained officers are often nervous about the idea of delivering their first baby, but Mr Mana said the feeling is only natural.
"The first few times, I could hardly pull on my gloves, I was shaking so hard," he said. "It took me a long time to make a decision. I couldn't think straight with all the chaos around me."
"My heart throbbed like it was going to explode," he added. "After about my fifth time, it started to get easier."
At the site of most roadside births, crowds of onlookers tend to gather around the car, Mr Mana said. Part of the officers' challenge is to keep people from getting too close, "so they don't violate the patient's rights to privacy," he added.
People often cheer when they hear the baby crying, he said.
As for the young Thai couple whose baby he delivered in June, their experience made such an impression that they gave him the nickname "Tax," short for "Taxi.
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