Traffic policeman Kunchorn Sawangdee doesn't just dole out speeding tickets - he also delivers babies. In the line of duty, the 26-year-old Bangkok policeman has been the midwife at more than a dozen births. With 150 other police, he is part of a special all-male unit who have helped 1,300 women give birth while stuck in traffic jams.

The team was given special midwife training after Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej expressed concern that women in the throes of labour were getting caught short in the capital's notorious traffic snarl-ups. Unable to get to hospital in time, they were forced to give birth in the back of their cars, often without medical attention. Col Sarapong Poosombat, chief of the Royal Traffic Project, said: "It was a very dangerous situation. Women were suffering serious complications in childbirth because the traffic stopped them from getting to a hospital."

With a £1 million budget, the Θlite team of uniformed police "midwives" were sent on an intensive five-day training course run by a leading Thai hospital. There they were taught midwifery skills, including how to cut an umbilical cord and tips on making sure a baby can breathe.

Using Yamaha 150cc motorbikes, a slim-line model that makes it easier for them to weave in and out of the traffic, the traffic police travel in pairs, each carrying a full medical kit. Umbilical cord cutters, plastic gloves, syringe balls and an oxygen tank come as standard.

Police officer Kunchorn Sawangdee recalls, "My hands wouldn't stop shaking the first time I helped a woman give birth. Her husband didn't want me going near her because he didn't trust policemen. I got on my knees, leant across the back seat and told her to breathe deeply and push. When she gave birth to this lovely little boy, I couldn't stop smiling, especially when the couple told me that they were going to name it after me."

The policeman, who has also helped a woman give birth in the back of a taxi, admits that his friends tease him about his work. "They think delivering babies is a woman's thing. They always laugh at me, but I don't care because being a traffic policeman makes a real difference to people's lives."

Apart from delivering more than 300 babies each year, the unit are given basic medical training to deal with other medical emergencies, such as epilepsy, cardiac arrest and broken limbs caused by car crashes. In addition, they double up as fully trained mechanics, able to change a fan belt, get car brakes working and replace punctured tyres. "We want our men to deal with any type of traffic problem," explained Col Sarapong. "If a car is causing a jam because it has broken down, then they will fix it. And if a person is desperate to get to hospital, for whatever reason, our men will take care of them until appropriate medical attention arrives on the scene."

To encourage the highly-trained policemen to stay in the unit, they receive £94 a month: double the monthly salary of an ordinary Thai policeman. "This is the best job I've ever had," confirmed Kunchorn. "I'm still in touch with the parents of the first baby I delivered. It's two years old now; and when it grows up, the father has promised to tell him all about the policeman who brought him into this world."

Bangkok's notorious traffic jams, lasting up to seven hours, are caused by an inadequate public transport system. This means the majority of the capital's seven million residents take to the road in cars, buses, motorbikes or three-wheeled tuk-tuks.