Stop the plane, I’m having a baby
I have been focused on the baby issue recently, as my wife and I have been expecting the arrival of our second child. After an Internet search, I discovered that in-flight births are more common than I had imagined. British Airways alone reports about one in-flight delivery a year.
As a flight attendant, I am often asked if I have ever had a passenger go into labor on one of my flights, and while my answer is no, I was present when paramedics met a flight to care for an ailing crew member. When they told her she was in premature labor, she responded, incredibly, “But I’m not pregnant.” Two months later she gave birth to a boy whom she refers to lovingly as “Oops.”
Despite what you may have heard, flight attendants are not trained to deliver babies. But we are required to watch an antiquated black-and-white film on the entire birthing process in case a baby happens to arrive aboard one of our flights. The only thing I learned from that training was to make an announcement asking for a medical professional to come forward — and praying one would.
Some of the more recent headlines concerning onboard births include these:
* April 7, 2007, LanChile Flight LA800, Auckland to Santiago. Passenger delivers a baby midflight despite the baby being in a dangerous breech position. Curiously, this mother also claimed to be unaware that she was pregnant.
* Last year, two doctors aboard Delta Flight 131 to Atlanta from Germany delivered a baby in the aisle of the plane and resuscitated him when he was found not to be breathing.
* On September 23, 2006, a woman flying from London to Boston on a British Airways flight gave birth to a baby girl.
* In December 2006, a 42-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl on a Mexicana Airlines flight from Mexico to Chicago. The mother in this case was quite fortunate because an obstetrician was aboard the plane.
What if there wasn’t a medical professional on board and a short-order landing wasn’t feasible? Well, there are bound to be women on board who’ve had babies. With the sophistication of the onboard medical kits and a little collaboration, I guess mother and child would just “wing it.”
But, wait. If you are born on an international flight, what will be your country of birth? That seems to be up in the air, so to speak. The United Nations considers a child born in flight to have been born in the aircraft’s country of registry, but some countries assign citizenship according to the newborn’s city of disembarkation. Can you imagine clearing that up on your customs form?
Many people wince as heavily pregnant passengers board their flight, but it is not for us to judge what another’s circumstances might be. When we were expecting our first child, my wife and I flew to Hawaii for a last romantic getaway; she was seven months pregnant. Did we dwell on the possibility of delivering prematurely midflight? Well, as a first-time father-to-be, I did a bit, but when you’re married to a woman who is not accustomed to sitting on the couch for nine months, your negotiating powers may not go very far. Mine didn’t. Fortunately, our baby boy came two months later, right when he was supposed to.
Quite content with our one child, my wife and I soon went back to our busy work schedules, she as a pilot and I as a flight attendant. But before long, a long layover in Puerto Rico made possible a weekend getaway, and that’s how we found ourselves expecting Baby Wysong Number 2. There must have been something in the water, or maybe it that we got upgraded to a suite.
Since very few companies give fathers paid paternity leave, my wife and I agreed that I would continue working up until two weeks before the due date and then take some time off afterwards for the joy of assisting at 3 a.m. feedings. It just so happened that my last trip was to Rio de Janeiro at the peak of the beautiful Brazilian summer. I got very little sympathy from my winter-bound wife and a multitude of evil glares from her friends. I received the doctor’s assurance that labor was unlikely while I was away, but I was to keep my cell phone on at all times just in case.
Right before takeoff to Rio, my cell phone rang. At any other time I would have just turned it off, but the call was from my wife and it wasn’t like her to call like this. I ducked into a bathroom to answer the phone. It was a bad connection, and the conversation went something like this:
“I am sorry to call but I am in … [static] labor, and need to know what you … ”
At that moment the call dropped. I tried to call my wife back, but her phone was busy.
Luckily, the captain was an agreeable sort, so I called him up and told him the situation, explaining that I might need to drop off the crew for the flight. I went in the cockpit and he told me that he would stall a bit while I confirmed. After three tries I finally reached my wife.
“Honey, we are about to take off,” I told her. “The last connection was garbled. Are you indeed in labor?”
“What are you talking about?” came the reply. “No, I said that I am in Lord and Taylor and I need to know your pants size.” Embarrassed, I apologized to the captain and vowed that the first round of drinks in Rio would be on me.
Well, I am pleased to say that two weeks later Matthew Edward Wysong was born at 8 pounds 5 ounces. More proof that in this day and time, cockpit crew members are having babies and sometimes the cabin crew is culpable.
Now that my family is bigger, I am sure that there will be more columns on traveling with children.
See you next week for more in-flight columns.
The writers and editors at Tripso send best wishes to the four Wysongs and encourage you to do the same in the comments below.
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Comments
8 Responses to “Stop the plane, I’m having a baby”
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Congratulations to all four Wysongs! And Mr. and Mrs. Wysong, please give your little ones kisses from me…
Sincere congratulations, James and family!
Congratulations, James. If I ever see you, I’ll buy you a drink!
Congratulations to you! I wish you all well!
I am a neonatal intensive care nurse who loves to travel. Many times i have noted women flying pregnant and wondered…… Thanks for the statistics on babies born in flight & congratulations.
Remember, the SECOND child deserves and needs as much attention as the first. Congratulations and may you all have a wonderful life.
Mr Wysong,
I am a travel professional who has been in the industry 39 years. The changes that I have seen would be very depressing (and get me out of the industry) if I didn’t work to fight the depression. Your articles are a big help in keeping the straight jacket on the hanger and not on me. Thanks for your insights and humor.
Binnie Coppersmith
Thanks for the update. Was wondering when we (your faithful readers) would hear the good news? Congratulations to you and your wife!
Loved your column about travelling to England with one child. Can’t wait for the next installment - travelling with two children!
I look forward to your columns each week!!