Baby’s First Plane Ride: Woman Gives Birth On Southwest Flight Shortly After Takeoff

(David Transier)

While a majority of us can regale a rather uneventful tale of entering the world at a hospital, there is a select group of people who have crazy, often unbelievable birthing – stories from the parking lots of Walmart to the bathrooms of McDonald’s. That little club grew by one on Monday when a baby was born thousands of feet in the air on a Southwest Airlines flight.

KTLA-TV reports that shortly after a Phoenix-bound flight took off from San Francisco International Airport it was diverted to LAX when a passenger went into labor, delivering the baby mid-air.

A doctor and nurse on the flight assisted the delivery and cared for the woman and baby until the plane landed, a Southwest spokesperson says.

Los Angeles Fire Department officials took over care of the woman and her newborn before allowing other passengers to exit the plane. The woman and baby were transported to a local hospital in good condition, a LAFD spokesperson says.

Fellow passengers tell KTLA there was little commotion on the plane surrounding the birth. One passenger says he heard the baby cry and subsequently learned of the new arrival.

Following the delivery, the pilot announced the birth on the loudspeaker, congratulating the parents.

The flight, which began with 111 passengers, continued on to Phoenix after a two and a half-hour delay.

Woman Gives Birth in Airplane Shortly After Takeoff; Plane Diverted to LAX [KTLA-TV]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist