Premature baby born on Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787, doctors improvise

On September 5, a baby was born prematurely on Vietnam Airlines flight VN38 from Copenhagen to Ho Chi Minh City. The mother was in her 30th week of pregnancy. A doctor on board first thought the woman was having a panic attack, but an examination showed the amniotic sac had ruptured and the baby's head was already palpable.

Four doctors and a nurse happened to be on the Boeing 787-9. None specialized in obstetrics, but they worked together to assist the delivery. The baby was born after just six to seven minutes, weighing 1.3 kilograms.

The aircraft lacked proper medical equipment, so the helpers improvised. To keep the premature infant warm, they cut open the mother's shirt and placed the baby directly on her chest. To clamp the umbilical cord, they used bands from sterile face masks.

The flight was still more than two hours from Ho Chi Minh City. Bangkok was about one hour and 20 minutes away, but the crew chose to divert to Yangon instead, likely because it was closer. The aircraft landed in Myanmar with the newborn.