A woman from Tanzania who gave birth prematurely in Shanghai when her visa was about to expire was helped by Shanghai police during one of the most critical moments of her life.

Police from suburban Fengxian District revealed the story yesterday, which began on the evening of September 3.

That evening the woman, who lives in Nanqiao Town, was rushed to the district’s central hospital because of the risk of a uterine rupture and gave birth to a baby boy the next morning.

The boy, who was born more than two months ahead of his due date, faced several complications, while the woman was also in a critical condition at one point.

The woman has no relatives in China, and the baby’s father, who the woman later claimed to be American, was not in China either, police said.

The district police’s entry-exit administration office received a report from the hospital and took action immediately.

The woman holds an M visa for foreign businesspeople and told police that she was in contact with a company in the district, hoping to be employed.

Police contacted the company who agreed to give her some financial assistance and assign a Chinese employee to help translate between her and doctors.

Meanwhile, the woman’s visa was due to expire on September 9, so the district's entry-exit police officers helped her with the required material for a visa extension application at the hospital and solved her problems after consulting with the city’s administration bureau.

The woman’s health improved, but her baby was still fighting for its life, so police helped contact Shanghai Children’s Hospital to take over care of the newborn baby on September 6.

The baby boy is now in a stable condition, police said.

Since the baby also requires travel documents, his nationality has now been determined as Tanzanian, his passport is being processed at the country's embassy in China.

The woman has named her baby boy Ezra, a Hebrew name meaning “help.”