Woman gives birth on flight while fleeing Haiti

Haiti is in the midst of an armed gang rebellion led by Jimmy Chérizier, known as Barbecue. The uprising has not only made several countries such as the US and the UK issue “do not travel” warnings for Haiti but also caused many citizens to flee. One woman leaving Haiti, pregnant with her second child, was on her way to the US immigration officials when she gave birth to a baby boy mid-flight on 15 March.

The 42-year old Wilene Tulus and her husband were travelling from Mexico City to the Mexican town of Ciudad Juárez. The reason why they were doing so, according to the Daily Mail, was because they had an appointment with US immigration officials to discuss their application for asylum.

However, 30 minutes after take-off, Tulus went into labor on the B737-852 plane catered by Aeroméxico. The woman had already given birth to a child once before and was therefore able to alert the cabin crew, saying she was having contractions. In their turn, they were able to find a doctor aboard the plane, who helped to successfully deliver the baby. In a video released online, a crew member can be seen carrying the baby down the aisle of the aircraft.

Once the plane landed at the Abraham González Airport in Ciudad Juárez, the baby had to be taken to a specialist children’s hospital. According to officials, ‘the birth took place in an environment that was not controlled or under adequate hygiene measures” and the newborn therefore needed extra attention. The mother was taken to another hospital but was discharged after 24 hours and reunited with her newborn.

Aeroméxico, which has its 90^th anniversary this year, celebrated the successful birth by gifting the baby 90 free flights. “We are very excited to have been part of this great story that is just beginning. Aeroméxico thanks the doctors for their professionalism, recognises the extraordinary work of the crew of flight attendants and pilots, in addition to reiterating that the safety of clients and collaborators is our highest priority”, the airline told the Daily Mail.

Although this is the third birth in the air within three weeks, it’s rare that babies are born on planes due to rules about pregnant women flying in their third trimester. According to a 2020 study, published by the International Society of Travel Medicine, 74 children were born on commercial flights between 1929 and 2018, of which all but three survived.

The rules on flying while pregnant are hard to navigate because of huge variety from carrier to carrier, with some requiring a doctor’s certificate to fly after a certain number of weeks’ pregnancy, and others applying different conditions. It’s unsurprising therefore that the overall result is to discourage women near the point of labour from flying.