Baby born mid-flight, enroute to AustraliaTara Ravens | August 28, 2008 - 9:56AM
Original ArticleDARWIN - A pregnant Adelaide woman only bought a plane ticket for one because she wasn't expecting to give birth in the sky above Australia.
The 29-year-old woman was returning to her husband in Adelaide after visiting family in India when she went into labour on the plane.
About 5.30am (CST) yesterday, on the final leg of her trip from Hong Kong, the woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
It is believed to be her firstborn.
"The baby is healthy, he is breathing on his own. Mum is jetlagged but stable," said a spokeswoman for Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH).
The woman, who was 34 weeks pregnant, is understood to have gone to the toilet after experiencing pain in her stomach.
An Adelaide doctor who, along with three other medical practitioners, helped deliver the baby on the international Cathay Pacific flight said it was a smooth, "fun" birth.
"I got the operative end, one got the comforting end, the 'breathe, breathe, breathe' end, and the other got the looking-after-the-baby end," Happy Valley GP Judith Hamel told the ABC.
"There were four of us - one surgeon, one orthopaedic surgeon, one kidney specialist and a humble GP who was the only one who'd done very much in the way of deliveries, so I got that end ...
"I think we all had fun once we knew it was all safe."
It is not known where the birth took place but luck was certainly on mum's side.
"She was fortunate enough to have doctors on board the flight," said a spokeswoman for Darwin Airport.
She said the plane made an unscheduled stop at Darwin, where it landed about 6.30am (CST).
Mum and bub were immediately rushed to RDH, where they have spent the day resting.
The RDH spokeswoman said that although the baby was six weeks early he weighed 2.7kg and was breathing unaided in the hospital's special care nursery.
"Dad is over the moon and he has rung grandparents back in India to tell them the news," said the spokeswoman.
"We are hoping to reunite mother and baby this afternoon."
The father, Jagdar Jagdar, said he had spoken to his wife, Parmajit Kaur, from Adelaide.
"I was wishing to see my wife at the time but all that happened, you know, very well," he told ABC Radio in Darwin.
He said there were "tears in my eyes" when he was told about the birth of his son, although he had been "feeling very, very worried" about his wife.
Mr Jagdar said he was happy and relieved that his family was doing well, although he was anxious to get to Darwin to meet the new addition.
Jagdar Jagdar is expected to arrive on a flight from Adelaide this evening and his son, despite an unusual entrance into the world, will have Indian nationality.
Airlines have different policies on pregnant women traveling, with some banning them from flying for 30 days before the due date.
Others allow women to travel up to a week before.
AAP
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