Most flights are relatively mundane: You impatiently board the plane, you successfully snooze or awkwardly fidget, you might strike up a conversation or you might read a book, and before you know it, you’re at your destination. But for one expecting mother and a UCLA resident physician, a 19-hour flight from Taiwan to Los Angeles was anything but boring.
After complaining of severe abdominal pain, the pregnant mother alerted crew members that her water had broken, only six hours into the flight. Dr. Angelica Zen, and a decidedly badass flight crew, helped the new mother (who was traveling alone) deliver her baby on board the flight, 8 weeks before her due date. The makeshift birth team welcomed a healthy baby girl 30 minutes before the flight was able to make an emergency stop in Anchorage, Alaska.
Dr. Zen told ABC7 that, surprisingly, most passengers slept through the delivery itself. (Very jealous of their ability to sleep soundly on a place, by the way. I wake up every time someone 20 rows away sneezes, but somehow these people can sleep through the actual birth of a human baby.) When asked about birthing a baby at 30,000 feet, Dr. Zen replied, “I was relieved the baby looked very healthy, and I was happy for the mom as well.”
Of course, it was all caught on video because this is 2015.
This lucky new mom isn’t the only one who gets to brag about her birthing experience. Here’s a list of Wonder-moms, who delivered babies with a flare for the once-in-a-life-time, dramatics.
GoPro, baby!
Kristin Dickerson couldn’t make it to the hospital before welcoming her son into the world. Of course, her husband caught it all with his GoPro (as one does). You can see dad doing his best to calm the mom-to-be as she screams, “I can’t make it! I can’t make it!” As the couple pull up to the hospital, mom stands out of the car and instructs her husband to catch their son. It’s nothing short of amazing (and graphic, for the weak stomaches out there).
Speedy delivery
A Seattle couple were pulled over, speeding their way toward the hospital. Officer Anthony Reynolds instructed the husband to wait for the ambulance to arrive, despite his many pleas to continue driving to the hospital. Of course, the baby had no intention of waiting for paramedics either.
The chillest dad ever
Lesa Pettijohn gave birth to—wait for it—a 10-pound baby in her car, on the way to the hospital. She was 10 minutes way from the birthing center when her water broke and, as they say, the rest is history. Take note at how unbelievably calm the husband was throughout the entire ordeal. He may have accidentally found his true calling as a doula.
(Seriously, so many babies are born in cars, guys.)
An second-time father in Ohio, Cory Roth, narrated his son's entrance into the world as his wife Kristen gave birth to their son—in the car, on the way to the hospital. When the couple realized they weren't going to make it to L&D, they pulled over and called 9-1-1. Yes, tears were shed.
"MEAT BEES"?!?!
35-year-old Amber Panghorn, after getting lost in a Nevada Forest, gave birth to her daughter on a sleeping back in the middle of nature itself. Unable to reach anyone by phone thanks to non-existent cell service, Amber said she had to protect her daughter from "meat bees" (I have no idea; I do not want to have any idea), who were trying to get to and eat her placenta. She was even stung a few times in the process, proving that, yes, there are worse post-baby visitors than your annoying in-laws. Amber and her daughter were eventually rescued, when she was able to make a signal fire using hairspray and a lighter. Bear Grylls, eat your heart out.
Image: AP
