Accidental Blogger

My son was on his way home from New Delhi yesterday on Northwest Flight # 59 from Amsterdam to Boston. A few hours into the flight, over Canada, there was a sudden flurry of activity towards the back of the plane. A set of seats was cordoned off with sheets and a plea was made over the P.A. system for any doctors / medically trained persons on board to come forward to assist with an emergency. Two doctors volunteered. After some time, it was announced that a new baby girl had joined the list of passengers. My son, who was a dozen or so rows in front, informed me that he and other passengers heard no screaming from the curtained area in the back. As a woman who has gone through two natural childbirths, that for me was the most remarkable thing about the incident!

BOSTON – There were 124 passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 59 when it left the Netherlands. There were 125 when it landed in Boston.

A woman went into labor and gave birth to an apparently healthy baby girl over the Atlantic Ocean during the eight-hour flight Wednesday from Amsterdam, said Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for Logan International Airport.

The plane landed without incident in Boston about 10:30 a.m., and the mother and baby were immediately taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, Orlandella said.

"It was wonderful," Dr. Paresh Thakker, a family physician from Methuen, Mass., who assisted with the mid-air delivery, told reporters at the airport. "Happy New Year for everybody in the family."

Orlandella said for customs' purposes, the baby was considered a Canadian citizen because she was born in Canada's airspace. He could not confirm media reports that the mother was a Ugandan national.

"The spirit of America is alive and everybody was there to help," said Dr. Natarajan Raman, an oncologist from Minneapolis who also helped deliver the baby, told reporters at the airport.

"It is always a joy to see a newborn baby and I was glad I was able to help," said Raman. "At the end of it, (the mother) thanked me. She seemed a little exhausted."