Lagos/Doha/Brazil – In a remarkable in-flight incident, a Nigerian woman named Oyindamola Akinyera gave birth to a baby girl aboard a Qatar Airways flight from Lagos to Brazil on Saturday.
According to Akinyera’s Instagram post, she was traveling with her husband David to their “honeymoon and baby-moon” destination, having been cleared for air travel by her doctor. However, a few hours into the connecting flight from Doha to Brazil, Akinyera began experiencing what she thought were regular pregnancy backaches.
As the discomfort continued, the air hostesses assisted Akinyera, taking her vitals and realizing she was actually in active labor. With the help of a fellow passenger who happened to be a doctor, the crew quickly set up a makeshift birthing station at the entrance of the plane.
Despite being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the birth unfolded rapidly. “Twenty minutes before landing, God blessed us with the most precious baby girl,” Akinyera wrote. The plane landed safely in Brazil, and both mother and child were taken to the hospital, where they are reported to be doing well.
Akinyera expressed immense joy and gratitude, describing the experience as a “supernatural birth” and an example of God’s intervention. “David and I’s hearts are filled with immense joy. I have seen God move countless times in my life, but this one beats all others,” she said.
The unexpected in-flight delivery highlights the extraordinary circumstances that can unfold during air travel, and the importance of trained medical personnel and resourceful crew members on board to handle such emergencies. This remarkable story of a Nigerian couple welcoming their newborn daughter at high altitude is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of the human spirit.
