MD on honeymoon delivers baby on overseas flight
U.S. physician says incident on trip home ‘definitely outside of my job description’
LOS ANGELES— It was a honeymoon that Dr. Angelica Zen likely won’t ever forget, and not just because of the romantic Bali vacation.
On her way home to Los Angeles last week, the UCLA physician made her first unassisted delivery of a newborn baby when a passenger suddenly went into labour over the Pacific Ocean.
The China Air flight, which had departed from Taiwan, was diverted to Alaska. Mother and newborn daughter left for a hospital, and the flight continued on to Los Angeles.
“When the baby came out healthy, I was just very relieved,” Zen, back at work at UCLA on Thursday, said laughing.
The fourth-year resident had previ- ously delivered two infants, both under the supervision of more experienced doctors. “Usually, I see adult patients, older patients and pediatric kids,” she said, adding this was “definitely outside of my job description.”
Zen had been trying to catch a little sleep toward the end of her 14-hour connecting flight from Bali last week when she heard an announcement asking if there was a doctor or nurse on board. The woman was seated in the plane’s first-class section, where the set-ups made it impossible to work, so Zen had her moved to the main cabin and placed on the floor. The flight attendants quickly pitched in, providing towels, blankets and makeshift instruments as fellow passengers recorded videos with their phones.
“The baby got delivered, and everybody applauded,” said passenger Edmund Chen, who filmed part of the delivery from his seat one row behind.
The video, shared with The Associated Press, shows a half-dozen flight attendants wearing surgical masks and speaking Mandarin as they help Zen. The attendants and passengers break into cheers and applause when the doctor hands the crying newborn to one of the attendants.
It’s unclear if the birth, first reported by KABC-TV, occurred within a 12-mile radius of Alaska, which would make the baby a U.S. citizen.