Cabs for expectant mothers needed!

The Japanese have one more thing to be proud about – special taxis for pregnant women. Yes, the nightmare of women in their final stages of pregnancy, not getting a taxi to get to the hospital is very real. In Japan, getting cabs in cities to stop for you is next to impossible and in rural Japan, it’s a pipe dream. There have been too many stories of women walking long miles to the hospital, while in labor pain.

So there is this very sensitive and compassionate taxi fleet, Nihon Kotsu, which has become one of first cab companies to offer expectant mothers dedicated, dependable transportation to the hospital whenever they need it. Started 16 months ago, this company has already chauffeured more than 10 imminently expectant mothers. The company’s official service through Japan is now known as “Labor-Pain’ taxi.

This is the first cab in Japan to offer expectant mothers dedicated, dependable transportation to the hospital whenever they need it. Those wanting this service, first register online and when needed, the expectant mother has to just call a designated phone number when the time comes, and the rest will be taken care of. The cost of the trip is just the normal taxi fare with no additional charges. Laboring mothers are given top priority for all available cars and all of its 7000 cab drivers go through a one-hour session with a midwife. This service seems to have caught on – it started with 1,653 users in its first month and now it has more than 35,000 registered mothers as of April’14. Maybe we in India too need to look at services like these because depending on the ambulance or worse, the autorickshaw might not be a good idea.