A woman gave birth mid-air during a five-hour flight to Portland on Friday night, in what passengers and crew are calling a “mid-air miracle”. Delta Flight 478 was traveling from Atlanta to Portland when a passenger went into labor, according to KPTV. The crew quickly declared an emergency to secure priority handling from air traffic control. There were 153 passengers on board, along with two pilots and four flight attendants.
The initial emergency call, made around 9:30 p.m., indicated the woman had been experiencing contractions for about 35 minutes.
In a stroke of luck, a doctor and two nurses were among the passengers. They immediately stepped in, working alongside the flight attendants to safely deliver the baby before the plane landed.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, actually,” said Oreong EMT Tina Fritz, who helped deliver the infant, told KOIN 6.
“I cut the cord and we wrapped her up, and they’re like, the plane is touching down, so Kaarin grab the seat. And I grabbed the seat. We didn’t get anything buckled, and we just landed. Then, we gave baby back to mom, and we taxied in, so the whole plane cheered for mom. It was great,” the EMT said.
Emergency medical teams were on standby when the aircraft touched down around 10 pm. Soon after, a radio update confirmed the news that the baby had been born on board, and both mother and child were doing well.
“It was pretty wild just to see it all happen,” a passenger told KPTV.
Officials from the Port of Portland later said the mother and newborn were in stable condition when paramedics arrived.
A Delta spokesperson said. “We extend our sincere thanks to the crew and medical volunteers on board who stepped in to provide care to a customer onboard prior to landing in Portland. The health and safety of our customers is always our top priority, and we wish the new family all the best.”
This marks at least the second mid-air birth reported this month. On April 4, a passenger on a Caribbean Airlines flight from Jamaica to New York’s JFK Airport also gave birth before landing, though no emergency was declared in that case.
According to Delta Air Lines, there are no strict restrictions on flying while pregnant or requirements for a medical certificate. However, the airline advises passengers to consult their doctor before traveling. It also notes that ticket change fees and penalties are not waived due to pregnancy.