A British Airways flight from Abuja to London has had to make an
emergency landing on the Spanish island of Palme de Mallorce, after a
Nigerian woman gave birth in business class.
Ujunwa Eneh Ozeh, who
turned 31 today, went into labour at 36,000 feet while flying to London
Heathrow. She was only 26 weeks pregnant.
According to Mail
Online, the pilot of the British Airways flight was forced to make an
emergency landing in Palme de Mallorce, in the Balearic Islands, where
the mother and baby, who has been called Michael, were rushed to the
island’s Son Espases hospital.
While Mrs Ozeh will be discharged
on Monday, Michael is currently in the intensive care unit and will
remain in hospital until August, around his original due date, so he can
develop properly.
Mrs
Ozeh said: ‘I don’t have any other option than to stay here on the
island. My baby needs me to just hang in there for him until it is safe
for him to come home with me.’
The mother-of-two was travelling
with her one-year-old daughter Nnedinma and was planning to catch a
connecting flight from London to Washington, USA, where she was taking
the little girl for vacation.
Nnedinma was born in the United States but Mrs Ozeh is insistent she was not returning to the USA to have Micheal.
She
said: ‘I was going for the summer, Michael was not due until August,
there is no way I would be able to stay in the United States until
August. I had a return ticket to Nigeria booked for May 28, so I
intended to stay for a few weeks and then go home.’
When her water
broke, fellow passengers alerted the cabin crew who put out a call for
doctors over the intercom. A female doctor, currently unidentified, was
onboard and able to oversee the birth with the help of flight crew, who
are trained in birthing procedures.
It used to be the case that a baby born on board a British ship or aircraft would automatically get British citizenship.
This was based on a UN directive aimed at minimising the number of people in the world without a registered state.
However,
the British Nationality Act 1981, stated that any such baby, born after
January 1, 1983, would not be granted British citizenship unless at
least one parent already held it.
Mrs Ozeh said: ‘I just wasn’t
thinking that I could be in labour, I couldn’t imagine it. When the
doctor told me that the baby was coming I went into total shock, I can’t
really remember, I wasn’t able to think clearly.’
Once the plane had touched down, mother and baby were raced to hospital where they are stable.
Mrs
Ozeh said: ‘I am fine and healthy and the doctor said that Michael is
doing pretty well, that it’s looking good and he is trying to survive.’
Her
husband, Kaycee Ozeh, a local businessman in Nigeria, is now scurrying
to get a visa so he can travel to be with his wife and children. Mrs
Ozeh said she had never thought the baby would come so early, or would
not have attempted travelling.
She said: ‘Right now, [Mr Ozeh]
doesn’t have a Spanish visa but I need him to come here. I don’t know
what I’m going to do when I get out of the hospital, I’m completely in
the dark. I need my husband because I don’t know the next step to take.’
Under
BA regulations, pregnant woman can fly on their planes until the end of
their 36th week, or 32nd week if carrying more than one baby.
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