Indian-origin doctor delivers baby on flight, midway to New York

Published On 2018-01-30 04:26 GMT | Update On 2021-08-23 06:46 GMT

Proving once again that a doctor is always on duty, an Indian-Origin doctor helped a pregnant woman give birth to a baby boy on board a flight; 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean

Dr Sij Hemal, a second-year urology resident at Cleveland Clinic's Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute was traveling to New York from New Delhi, via a stopover at Paris. After some time on board, Dr Hemal and a Pediatrician, Dr. Susan Shepherd who was coincidentally sitting next to him received an urgent call to help a fellow passenger who had gone into labor

It was then he discovered that 41-year-old Toyin Ogundipe had gone into labor as the plane skirted the southern coast of Greenland, 35,000 feet below. She was complaining of back pain, reports CN Health

"Her contractions were at least 10 minutes apart, so the pediatrician (Dr Susan Shepherd) and I began to monitor her vital signs and keep her comfortable. We're trained to stay calm and think clearly in emergency situations," Dr Hemal told Media

The crew contemplated an emergency landing, but since they were flying 35,000 feet over the southern coast of Greenland, pulling off course to make it to the U.S. military base in the Azores Islands would take two hours and that was not that much closer than their final destination of JFK Airport, New York.

"With the nearest site for an emergency landing being two hours away at a US military base, the two physicians recommended to the pilot they continue to New York, still four hours away. While air hostesses tended to Toyin's travelling companion, her 4-year-old daughter, Amy, the two doctors used instruments and supplies in the aircraft's basic medical kit to routinely check her vital signs, including blood pressure, oxygen rate and pulse," the press statement People Human Interest.

"I was relaxed because I knew I was in safe hands," the patient, Ogundipe told Cleveland Clinic in a statement. "They did everything a doctor or midwife would have done if I was in the labor room in the hospital. Even better, if you ask me.

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