A baby girl was delivered on board a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Entebbe, Uganda, recently, thanks to the efforts of a Canadian doctor, some co-passengers and the airline's crew.
"Welcome to the world, baby Miracle Aisha! We are truly grateful for the incredible efforts of Dr Aisha Khatib, together with our cabin crew, whose swift action ensured a safe delivery in the sky on Qatar Airways. Glad to hear mom & baby are healthy & well," Qatar Airways tweeted Saturday, referring to the incident that occurred last month.
The baby was born healthy and named Miracle Aisha, after the doctor. The mother is a Ugandan migrant worker who was travelling home from Saudi Arabia, BBC News reported.
Dr Khatib, a professor at University of Toronto, shared the experience on social media.
"Is there a doctor on the plane? Never thought I’d be delivering a baby on a flight! Thanks to the airline crew who helped support the birth of this Miracle in the air! Mom and baby are doing well and healthy," she tweeted.
Dr Khatib, who specialises in travel medicine, was headed to Uganda for some work when the call went out. "About an hour into the flight, they announced, ‘is there a doctor on board?’," she told CTV News.
A passenger, more than 35 weeks pregnant with her first child, told the flight crew she was having abdominal pain.
Dr Khatib went to the back of the passenger cabin, where she found the mother-to-be.
“There was this woman lying there with her head towards the aisle and her feet towards the window,” Dr Khatib told CTV News. “And this baby was coming out."
BBC News reported that Dr Khatib was helped by two other passengers - an oncology nurse and a paediatrician from Doctors without Borders.
The birth happened quickly once the team was assembled. The baby was delivered at 35,000ft in the air. "I said ‘congratulations, it's a girl,’ and then all of a sudden the whole plane started clapping and cheering — ‘let's go, right’,” Dr Khatib recalled.
She also said in a tweet that the flight's medical kit had some equipment which helped her carry out the delivery. The child was also assessed by the paediatrician on board.
"The best part of the story is that she (the mother) decided to name the baby after me." As a gift, Dr Khatib gave Miracle Aisha the gold necklace that she was wearing with the name Aisha written in Arabic.
The delivery happened on December 5, but Dr Khatib had been busy treating Covid-19 patients in Toronto to share the pictures until this week, according to BBC News.
She was called back from Uganda, where she was training local workers, on December 18.
Both the mother and baby are said to be doing fine, CTV News added.
"Welcome to the world, baby Miracle Aisha! We are truly grateful for the incredible efforts of Dr Aisha Khatib, together with our cabin crew, whose swift action ensured a safe delivery in the sky on Qatar Airways. Glad to hear mom & baby are healthy & well," Qatar Airways tweeted Saturday, referring to the incident that occurred last month.
Welcome to the world, baby Miracle Aisha! We are truly grateful for the incredible efforts of Dr.@AishaKhatib, together with our cabin crew, whose swift action ensured a safe delivery in the sky on #QatarAirways. Glad to hear mom & baby are healthy & well! https://t.co/m8CIBVKtD2
— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) January 15, 2022
The baby was born healthy and named Miracle Aisha, after the doctor. The mother is a Ugandan migrant worker who was travelling home from Saudi Arabia, BBC News reported.
Dr Khatib, a professor at University of Toronto, shared the experience on social media.
"Is there a doctor on the plane? Never thought I’d be delivering a baby on a flight! Thanks to the airline crew who helped support the birth of this Miracle in the air! Mom and baby are doing well and healthy," she tweeted.
Is there a doctor on the plane? ????????????Never thought I’d be delivering a baby on a flight! ?? @qatarairways Thanks to the airline crew who helped support the birth of this Miracle in the air! Mom and baby are doing well and healthy! #travelmedicine pic.twitter.com/4JuQWfsIDE
— Aisha Khatib, MD (@AishaKhatib) January 13, 2022
Dr Khatib, who specialises in travel medicine, was headed to Uganda for some work when the call went out. "About an hour into the flight, they announced, ‘is there a doctor on board?’," she told CTV News.
A passenger, more than 35 weeks pregnant with her first child, told the flight crew she was having abdominal pain.
Dr Khatib went to the back of the passenger cabin, where she found the mother-to-be.
“There was this woman lying there with her head towards the aisle and her feet towards the window,” Dr Khatib told CTV News. “And this baby was coming out."
BBC News reported that Dr Khatib was helped by two other passengers - an oncology nurse and a paediatrician from Doctors without Borders.
The birth happened quickly once the team was assembled. The baby was delivered at 35,000ft in the air. "I said ‘congratulations, it's a girl,’ and then all of a sudden the whole plane started clapping and cheering — ‘let's go, right’,” Dr Khatib recalled.
She also said in a tweet that the flight's medical kit had some equipment which helped her carry out the delivery. The child was also assessed by the paediatrician on board.
"The best part of the story is that she (the mother) decided to name the baby after me." As a gift, Dr Khatib gave Miracle Aisha the gold necklace that she was wearing with the name Aisha written in Arabic.
The delivery happened on December 5, but Dr Khatib had been busy treating Covid-19 patients in Toronto to share the pictures until this week, according to BBC News.
She was called back from Uganda, where she was training local workers, on December 18.
Both the mother and baby are said to be doing fine, CTV News added.
