PHOTO: Independence of The Sea. (Courtesy of Royal Caribbean International)
A Utah family is praising Royal Caribbean International following a miraculous birth aboard the Independence of the Seas earlier this month.
KSL.com reported Chase and Emily Morgan were in the midst of a seven-day Caribbean cruise with their 3-year-old daughter Chloe when Emily unexpectedly went into labor. With the ship still 14 hours out from port, medical staff encouraged Emily to do what she could to hold off delivery.
However the baby arrived just moments later.
The staff originally told the Morgans that Emily had miscarried, but then came a shocking development.
"About 45 minutes after I had delivered, the two doctors came back in and said the baby was still alive, however, they didn't expect him to live very long," Emily told KSL.com.
After learning of the situation, the ship's captain ensured an early arrival to port in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "He said we are going as fast as we can and we'll port two hours early in San Juan and we'll get you guys to the hospital, but he said that's as fast as I can get you there," Emily said.
Doctors credited the early arrival for likely saving the life of the baby, a boy who the Morgans named Haiden.
In a comment made to CruiseLawNews.com's Jim Walker, an unidentified passenger provided their account of situation: "Just got off the Independence of the Seas. We had a medical emergency on Sept. 1 and headed full speed to San Juan because a woman gave birth to a little boy on Tuesday morning at 3 a.m."
From San Juan the Morgans were transported to a Miami hospital via medical jet. There, one-pound, eight-ounce Haiden, deemed a "micro-preemie" by doctors, saw his prognosis continue to improve.
"Royal Caribbean has really been great in keeping in touch after we got into Puerto Rico, making sure that everything was running smoothly," Chase told KSL.com. "They even sent translators with us when we first got into Puerto Rico."
The Morgans plan to head home to Utah next month, but Haiden will remain at the hospital until December.
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