by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:42 AM ET, Wed June 28, 2017
A Spirit Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Saturday after a pregnant passenger went into labor and then gave birth midflight.
According to CBSNews.com, Cristina Penton was 36-weeks pregnant when she boarded the Spirit flight from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas. The plane was only in the air for around 15 minutes when she felt her contractions coming more often, and she eventually went into labor.
The crew members onboard asked for any medical professionals on the flight. An unnamed pediatrician and a nurse identified as Rhondula Green stepped up to help deliver the baby.
The delivery took only a few minutes, and Green helped tie the baby's umbilical cord.
The captain called for the plane to be diverted, and it landed safely a short time later in New Orleans. Penton and her new baby, along with her two pre-teen children she was traveling with, were taken to a local hospital.
[READMORE] READ MORE: Baby Receives a Lifetime of Free Flights[/READMORE]
The baby, named Christoph, and mother are happy and healthy. He weighed in at seven pounds and measured 19.5 inches but will have to finish the trip with his family via car to avoid any of the germs found inside a plane.
As a way of celebrating the midflight birth, officials from Spirit Airlines gave the Penton family several gifts for their new child, including free flights on his birthday for life.
Talk about being born in the right place and at the right time
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