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Source: Twitter
One of the biggest nightmares for any expectant mum is to give birth anywhere other than the hospital with well-equipped medical set up. An unexpected pregnancy is scary and may even lead to several complications in the absence of a healthcare professional. Time and again we come across some rare birth stories where a pregnant woman ends up giving birth en route to the hospital—on the side of a highway, or in a car. In some cases, the labor progresses so quickly that the childbirth takes place at the house. Let’s not forget the incredible story of the Kansas mom, Jesica Hogan who gave birth in the hospital hallway. Soon after the mom-to-be’s water broke, the contractions kicked in and increased rapidly, giving them no time to get to the labor room. The incident garnered worldwide attention, earning the photographer who captured the beautiful moments filled with agony and ecstasy the International Birth Photography Award. While we are familiar with a few such stories, it rarely so happens that a pregnant woman delivers a baby mid-air. Recently, a passenger who was flying from Delhi to Bengaluru gave birth to a baby at 30,000ft above ground level in an IndiGo flight.
Image: Twitter
In an official statement by IndiGo, the airlines confirmed that a woman delivered a baby boy on flight 6E 122 that was flying from Delhi to Bengaluru on Wednesday, 7th October 2020. The baby is said to be born prematurely. The flight landed at Bengaluru airport around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday (1). According to a fellow passenger, both the mother and the baby were taken care of well by the IndiGo staff and are said to be healthy.
Pictures of the IndiGo crew holding and celebrating the arrival of the baby have gone viral on social media. The airline crew earned praises on various social media platforms for helping with the delivery and ensuring the safety of the mom and the baby.
The mother and the baby also received a grand welcome by the ground staff when the flight landed at Bengaluru. The handling crew even held up a poster with the message “Welcomes you to Namma Bengaluru”.
Image: Twitter
According to sources, IndiGo airlines has announced a lifetime free flight ticket for the newborn.
Image: Twitter
Meanwhile, the incident attracted mixed reactions from the Twitterati. While some praised the IndiGo crew as well as the mother and baby for their courage, others condemned the airline for allowing a woman in her final stage of pregnancy to board the flight.
A user tweeted, “Awwwwwww this is so sweet…. Such A wonderful gesture…. Welcome newborn baby doll….”. Another user replied in the thread by saying, “The crew deserves praise for their help.”
While another twitter user opined, “Great marketing gimmick, on one hand, they are allowing such kind of passengers to fly and on other hand, they are advertising it..” A few others questioned why the pregnant woman was allowed to travel in the flight in the first place and requested to look into the matter. A user stated how the mother and the baby got extremely lucky in this case as the delivery turned out to be uneventful, and it would be foolish for anyone else to wish the same thing happening for them. Another user asked why the woman got no objection certificate from the doctor and was allowed to travel at such a critical stage of her pregnancy as it could have been fatal if some complications had taken place during the birth.
Though a mid-flight baby is not a common occurrence, it is definitely not unheard of. In a similar incident in 2017, a woman gave birth to a baby boy while flying to India from Saudi Arabia. The Jet Airways flight which was scheduled to land at Kochi airport was diverted to Mumbai to provide medical help to the mother and newborn. The newborn was also offered free flight tickets by the airlines.
In a similar incident in 2009, budget carrier AirAsia offered the same gesture for a Malaysian mom and her son. A Filipino airline called Cebu Pacific also gifted one million air miles to the baby that was born on the flight between Dubai to Manila.
It is truly commendable that the airline staff were able to rise to the occasion and were well equipped to deal with such emergency situations. We applaud them for the strength and valour they have shown and they deserve all the praise.
