What awaits a child born on an airplane (6 photos)

Childbirth is a question that, on the one hand, seems to be predictable, but on the other... The mother decided to fly somewhere on an important matter, and the child decided that the moment was right to be born ahead of schedule. Such cases, fortunately, are rare, but if they happen, all sorts of gifts await the baby, depending on the airline.





Obviously, but it’s worth clarifying: flying on an airplane late in pregnancy is dangerous for both the mother and her child. A number of airlines even prohibit women from boarding after a certain period of time. Some allow passengers only with a doctor’s certificate, while other airlines place the responsibility entirely on the woman.

It is impossible to imagine that someone would get into the head of voluntarily giving birth at an altitude of thousands of meters, but no one has canceled premature birth, and we should not forget about the paradoxical cases when a woman did not even know that she was pregnant.



In 2015, 23-year-old Ada Guan was flying with her boyfriend over the Pacific Ocean. Ada was sure that she had just suddenly gained weight in recent months, and the pregnancy test she had taken had shown a negative result. The sudden onset of labor came as a shock not only to the passengers and crew of the plane, but also to the girl and her boyfriend. The couple disembarked in Japan holding baby Chloe in their arms.





A child born in the sky can receive one of the most valuable gifts - citizenship of the country over which the plane was flying at the time of birth. But this does not always happen, only if the state provides a passport under the “right of soil” - this is when any child born in the territory (including airspace) becomes a citizen of the country.

There are 33 such countries.

The baby can also obtain citizenship of the country in which the plane is registered. It is interesting that in the very first document of the child there will be a record that he was born in an aircraft, or “in the air.”



Children who decide to please their parents by being born on board an airplane are automatically considered “their own” in several airlines. They get the right to fly their aircraft for free for the rest of their lives. There was a boy born in 2020 on his way from London to Cairo by EgyptAir. Now he has become a free passenger of this airline for life.



Have you seen in TV series and movies how a flight attendant nervously shouts: “Is there a doctor on board?!” And this is just that rare case when the situation is not fiction - the passenger-doctor will really help the woman in labor as much as possible. Well, if you are unlucky and there is no doctor on board, then the crew of the plane takes upon itself the task of helping the mother and baby. Flight attendants are specially trained in basic skills to assist passengers.

But still, childbirth in the air is an exception to the rule. From 1929 to 2018, only 74 children were born on board the plane.

Only one woman in 26 million passengers can go into labor on a plane.