Woman Has Baby Mid-Flight, Gives Him Fitting Name
A young woman from Connecticut was flying to the Dominican Republic with her family when she unexpectedly went into labor early. Kendria Rhoden was only 32 weeks pregnant at the time and had been cleared by her doctor to fly because her due date was more than six weeks away. But just 34 minutes after the plane took off from New York City, she felt cramps, her water broke and she was in active labor.
The 21-year-old health care worker was sitting next to her sister, Kendalee, who alerted the rest of their family on the flight and pressed the panic button, which sent flight attendants rushing over. The cabin crew called for medical assistance and four people came to assist Rhoden. According to Kendalee, the mom-to-be was taken to the back of the plane and after a very stressful 20 minutes, the crew announced there was a new passenger on board - a baby boy.
Rhoden named her son Skylen Kavon-Air Francis after his airborne arrival and because of his premature arrival, he had to spend the first four days of his life in the NICU at the hospital. During that time, the family scrambled to come up with a plan to determine the newborn’s nationality and get him back home. The American embassy confirmed Skylen’s American nationality and got him an emergency passport that lists his place of birth as “in the air.” After a few weeks, mom and baby were cleared to fly home and both are doing well. The new mom says, “I feel good now because I’m home and he’s safe.”
Source: NY Post