Woman delivered baby in an aircraft

An Arik Air flight with over 100 passengers en route to
London Sunday was forced to make an emergency
landing in Palmas, Spain, as a woman went into labour
and gave birth while the aircraft was airborne.
The pilot was said to have requested the emergency
landing on the advice of two doctors who were on
board the aircraft and had helped the mother deliver
the baby. After the birth of the child, the mother,
whose identity has so far been withheld, was said to
have experienced excessive hemorrhaging, necessitating
the emergency landing.
At the time of this report, both mother and child were
said to have been stable but were left behind in Palmas
for monitoring by medical personnel, while the flight
continued on its journey to London.
On enquiry, THISDAY learnt that the airline was trying
to ascertain if the woman had presented a false medical
report from her doctor on the true duration of her
pregnancy or she had gone into premature labour while
on board the flight.
Women with full term pregnancies are not allowed to
travel by air, according to International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) regulations. As such, intending
pregnant passengers are required to present medical
reports certifying that they are less than 32 weeks
pregnant before they are allowed to fly.
A source said the airline was carrying out a full-scale
investigation to ascertain the genuineness of the
medical report presented by the woman. Arik Air’s
management said yesterday that if it is discovered that
the woman was given a false report to enable her fly, it
would file a special complaint against the doctor who
had issued the medical report to the Nigeria Medical
Association (NMA) for endangering her life and that of
the baby, as well that of other passengers on board the
flight.
THISDAY learnt that when the passenger went into
labour, the cabin crew had asked that doctors on
board the flight to identify themselves. Following the
announcement, two of the passengers came forward,
saying they were doctors and assisted in the delivery of
the baby.
Normally, a source disclosed that in the few instances
where women have given birth on board, the aircraft
would continue its flight to its final destination.
However, the Arik flight was forced to make an
emergency landing following the advice of the doctors
that the woman was bleeding excessively.
But the airline did not know whether the decision to
make an emergency landing by the doctors was right,
as it was not ascertained if the medical personnel were
O&G doctors (obstetrics and gynaecology) who might
have been better at handling the emergency birth.