A woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy at 30,000 feet, onboard an 11-hour transatlantic United Airlines flight on Sunday.
The pregnant woman was travelling from Accra, Ghana, to Washington, DC, and was not due till late February, when she went into labour.
A spokesperson for United Airlines said that “our crew was amazing, they acted quickly, assisted the medical professionals on board, and ensured everyone stayed safe throughout the flight.”
A Ghanaian doctor — who now practices medicine in the US — was joined by a former nurse-turned-flight attendant and another nurse from Dayton, Ohio and they together helped the woman deliver a baby in the business class section of the plane.
Dr Stephen Ansah-Addo — a dermatology resident at the University of Michigan — quickly jumped into action when he heard the call for any doctors on board.
Dr Ansah-Addo told ABC News: "I couldn’t believe it was happening. But I was trying to stay calm.”
To cut the umbilical cord, the team didn’t have any clamps, so they used a string to cut it.
The doctor said: “This is someone that really needed help, because there was nobody else there. This is the kind of medicine where you can make a difference in people’s lives.”
United Airlines said in a statement that the delivery was “uneventful.” Paramedics met the mother and child when the flight landed almost after 12 hours in Dulles International Airport in Washington DC. They were then taken to a local hospital.
The spokesperson added: “And we were especially thrilled to see the plane land with one extra, especially beautiful, customer onboard.”
One United employee greeted the new mother with a balloon and a card that read “On behalf of the United team at Washington Dulles, congratulations on your baby boy!”
On Monday, the airline said that both the mother and the baby boy were doing well.
