A mother and baby born onboard a Caribbean Airlines flight safely made it to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) after a rare in-air labor and delivery.
On April 4, the mother and child were traveling to NYC from Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica. The flight, Flight BW005, is typically under 4 hours. Audio of the incident relays the flight’s pilot telling a JFK-based air traffic controller that a pregnant passenger had gone into labor. The pilot accepted the controller’s offer to have medical personnel meet the mother and newborn at the plane’s gate upon landing. Caribbean Airlines detailed in a press statement that the woman’s delivery hadn’t triggered an emergency declaration.
CBS News shared the audio of the pilot’s conversation with the air traffic controller on the ground at JFK.
“Tell her she’s got to name it Kennedy,” the controller lightheartedly said to the pilot, suggesting the baby be named after the NYC-based airport.
What Actually Happens When A Baby Is Born Mid-Flight?
Babies born during flights are rare. A 2020 study published by the National Library of Medicine reported that “between 1929 and 2018, there were 74 infants born on 73 commercial flights.” The source noted that of those 74 newborns, 71 survived delivery. According to John Hopkins Medicine, pregnant women should consult their healthcare providers to help make an informed decision on whether and how far they can safely fly. The latter source says, “Generally, women are not allowed to travel by air after 36 weeks for domestic travel, and after 28 to 35 weeks for international travel.”
There is no internationally accepted, formalized industry procedure for all airline workers to follow if labor and delivery occur during a flight. Crew members become the mother and child’s makeshift support until the plane lands. It’s common for the laboring mother to be moved to a different location on the plane, as private and comfortable as possible. The crew may place the mother in business or first class, or in the plane’s galley. Though not medically trained to deliver babies, flight attendants can and do support passengers during medical emergencies.
Children born mid-flight usually acquire their parents’ citizenship. However, depending on the case, the child may be eligible to take on the citizenship of the country where the aircraft is registered. Other factors that could impact a child’s citizenship include whether the birth occurred in the air over land or the ocean.
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