Here's a question. If your child is born at 42,000 feet in international skies, what citizenship can she claim?
The mother of a newborn baby is about to find out after she gave birth mid-flight on a Turkish Airlines flight Friday. The plane was bound for Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from Conakry, Guinea on Friday.
The woman, who was reportedly 28 weeks pregnant, started going into labor shortly after takeoff. Flight attendants jumped into action, enlisting the aid of some nearby passengers to help with the delivery.
"The mother gave birth while standing, and we received help from several other passengers," said one of the flight attendants, Bouthayna Inanir, according to UK publication, The Sun.
After the baby was born flight crew, including the captain, stopped to pose with the baby. Meanwhile, Turkish Airways tweeted a greeting to the newborn, "Welcome on board, Princess," which included a specially designed "baby on board" graphic, as well as images of the crew with the baby.
Mother and daughter were met with an ambulance upon landing, and the airline reports both are doing fine.
Turkish Airlines' official Flying While Pregnant policy states that "passengers who have not yet entered their 28th week of pregnancy without a doctor's note. From 28-31 weeks, a doctor's note is required. After 31 weeks, the policy varies, depending on how many children the mother is expecting.
But, says the policy, "We rely on information given to us by the passenger about their stage of pregnancy. For this reason, it is extremely important that our passengers give us correct information about this."
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