A Mozambican police officer has helped deliver a baby for a homeless woman, Marlita Rui, with the help of two colleagues.
The officers were on patrol in downtown Maputo on Saturday when a man approached them for help. He took them to a place where Ms Rui was in labour with the baby almost coming out, and no time to take her to the hospital.
Officer Sheila Chivite carried out the delivery while following the instructions of a midwife who they had called on phone.
Ms Chivite, a mother of two, said she had to gather courage and save the baby and mother as she too had lost a baby in the past.
“I handed my gun to my colleague Jorge and asked my colleague Janaina to get the flashlight, because the place was dark. I had never performed or attended a birth, but at that time I did everything to help the mother and, with God’s help, we succeeded, the baby was born,” she said.
The baby boy was trapped by the neck and didn’t cry on delivery, but the officer’s mother told her to massage the baby and he cried.
In a video interview that was shared on social media, Ms Chivite sobbed and told the story of how she lost one of her own children.
“I did what I couldn’t do for my daughter, I saved the life of strangers, something I couldn’t do with my own baby,” she said.
The officer performed the delivery without gloves. Her colleague Jorge Justino said they did what was required at that moment, as they had a duty to help the public.
