Crew welcomes new life on board

A woman from Southwest China's Sichuan province gave birth on a flight from Chengdu to Wuhan on Monday, as four flight attendants played midwives.

Feng Yu, 9 months pregnant, was accompanied by her husband on her way to his hometown in Jianli county, in Central China's Hubei province, where they planned to welcome the new life. This was Feng's first plane travel, and also the first time she became a mother.

The MU2652 China Eastern Airlines flight took off at 8:45 am on Monday. Some 15 minutes later, Feng felt an acute pain and seemed ready to give birth.

"As soon as Feng's husband told us that she was about to give birth, four of us immediately went through the crew's guidebook for dealing with emergency situations and prepared necessary tools such as gauzes, surgical gloves and hot water," Zuo Lei, the chief attendant of the flight, told China Daily on Wednesday.

"None of the crew have been pregn

ant or encountered such situations before," she added.

They asked if any among the 45 passengers on board was a doctor, but found none.

The captain then requested air traffic authorities to shorten the flight time and called an ambulance to wait at the airport.

Soon Feng's husband Wu Peng shouted, "The baby's head is out!" Zuo held Feng's hand and guided her to breathe regularly. The baby girl came out after a few pushes.

The baby was delivered at 10:23 am, only six minutes before the plane landed in Wuhan's Tianhe Airport, eight minutes ahead of the scheduled time.

Mother and daughter were driven to a hospital immediately afterwards.

Feng was short and wore a thick coat. The crew didn't notice she was due to give birth soon at the time of boarding.

"It was unusual to see a baby out completely from the matrix, but healthy." Liu Ronghua, a 34-year-old gynecologist in Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, told China Daily on Tuesday. Feng was under his care before she left the hospital on Tuesday.

"Though the child's body was out, the umbilical cord was still connected," Liu recalled.

After a careful examination, Liu found the child was in better health than expected, with a 9 on 10 score in the Apgaris (Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance and Respiration) assessment.

Feng and her baby left the hospital at about 5:30 pm on Tuesday, for her husband's hometown, Jianli.

"She said she and her family wanted to be left in peace," said a staff working in the hospital surnamed Tian who saw them last.

Feng was not the first woman to give birth on a flight, but she and her baby still attracted a lot of attention.

"Women who are pregnant for more than seven months need to show a medical certificate at the security check to be allowed on board. For the safety of both the woman and baby, we suggest that pregnant women and their family be aware of the regulations and inform the airport staff of the truth," said Zou Chao, the plane's safety officer.