Woman's Worst Nightmare Comes True During 11-Hour Flight; Passengers Spring Into Action
When you hear an in-flight announcement asking if there are any doctors or nurses on board, you know something is going down.
On Jan. 30, it was during an 11-hour, transatlantic flight from Accra, Ghana, to Washington, D.C., on a United Airlines flight that the call went out.
A woman had started going into labor. Her baby wasn’t due until the end of February, but apparently no one told the baby that.
Thankfully for this woman, there were medical professionals on board: Dr. Stephen Ansah-Addo, a University of Michigan dermatology resident; a nurse from Dayton, Ohio; and a flight attendant who was a former nurse.
While Ansah-Addo certainly didn’t specialize in obstetrics, he and the nurses managed to assist the mother. They put down towels and blankets, and within an hour the baby was crowning.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening,” Ansah-Addo told ABC News. “But I was trying to stay calm.”
Labor didn’t last long, and soon the youngest flyer on board made himself known. Ansah-Addo and the nurses used what they had on hand and tied off the umbilical cord with a string.
A crew was waiting for the plane to land, and as soon as it did, the mother and infant were whisked off to the hospital by paramedics — but not before a representative from the airlines managed to hand off a balloon and a note.
“On behalf of the United team at Washington Dulles, congratulations on your baby boy!” the note read.
While it was certainly not the kind of flight Ansah-Addo expected, he seemed happy to be able to help.
“This is the reason why you go into medicine, to help people,” he said. “This is someone that really needed help, because there was nobody else there. This is the kind of medicine where you can make a difference in people’s lives.”
According to the airline, everything went well.
“The delivery was uneventful other than being at 30,000 feet,” United Airlines told ABC News.
“Our crew was amazing,” they told People. “They acted quickly, assisted the medical professionals on board, 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.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
