Woman gives birth midflight en route to the US

This baby was born in the sky.

A United Airlines passenger was high above the Atlantic Ocean, six hours into an 11-hour flight from Ghana to Virginia, on Sunday when she went into labor.

“I was asleep … I thought I was dreaming when I heard moaning. I got out of my seat, and I saw someone on the ground. A nurse was over her,” Los Angeles resident and flight passenger Tiani Warren told CNN of the woman’s midflight labor. “I thought, ‘Oh God, I know she is not about to give birth on this plane.’ I was literally counting her contractions — seven to 10 minutes apart. I was, like, freaking out. Oh my God.”

The woman — who has not been identified but is a Ghanaian New York City resident, according to Warren — luckily found herself in good hands: A doctor and three neonatal intensive care nurses happened to be on board.

The flight was from Ghana to Virginia.
Tiani Warren/Instgram
Thankfully, nurses were aboard the flight.
Tiani Warren/Instgram

The mom-to-be was brought an IV and the medical professionals got to work, but still, the situation was tense. The flight encountered some turbulence and the woman was “moaning and yelling” for approximately two-and-a-half hours, as she gave birth on the floor of the cabin by the emergency exits.

“I just started praying about her out loud as she was starting to push. She was crying. Before you knew it, the baby came out,” said Warren, who subsequently took to Instagram to post about her experience.

“Our crew was amazing,” United said.
“Our crew was amazing,” United said.
Tiani Warren/Instgram
The unnamed mom gave birth on the floor of the cabin by the emergency exits.
The unnamed mom gave birth on the floor of the cabin by the emergency exits.
Tiani Warren/Instgram

“I literally just witnessed a woman giving birth on the plane,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m stressed out, I’m excited. I’m tired. All in one. But the baby is a boy. It’s beautiful. It was a little sketchy at first, but God is good. This is unreal… I’m in shock right now. This is crazy.”

Eventually, the child emerged and gave a belch, at which point the mother was cleaned up and back in her seat by the time the plane landed. Airport paramedics greeted the flight upon its early morning arrival in the US.

“Our crew was amazing,” United told CNN in a statement. “They acted quickly, assisted the medical professionals onboard and ensured everyone stayed safe throughout the flight. And we were especially thrilled to see the plane land with one extra, especially beautiful, customer onboard.”

The child was at least the second to be born midflight this year.

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