Duke doctor, UNC nurse help woman give birth on Southwest flight
LOS ANGELES (WTVD) -- Passengers on a Southwest Airlines plane from San Francisco to Phoenix Tuesday got a lot more than they bargained for.
Almost as soon as the wheels were up, a woman went into labor and actually gave birth in flight.
"It was a really cool thing, and they're OK as far as I know," said passenger Ely Alexander. "Never thought I'd experience that, yeah, everyone was saying the same thing. It was just amazing that that happened on a plane."
Passengers on Flight 623 could hardly believe their eyes, but say everyone kept their composure.
"No one freaked out, no, it was all very calm," Alexander said. "It was really amazing how calm it was and how many people came to help."
Luckily, UNC emergency room nurse Victoria Bissette and Duke's Dorothy Sipkins were onboard and assisted with the delivery.
"The woman sitting there calmly turns around, she goes, 'she just gave birth' ... so we got a little blanket and we're like, 'here, take it,'" said passenger Kurt Reed.
Bissette said she didn't skip a beat.
"I think, especially with working in the ER you just automatically go, 'That's what we do.' We don't expect anything that comes in here. We just automatically go into the room or back to the patient on the plane and we just help. It's what we do."
Bissette said the experience was special not just because of the location, but also because she and her husband are newlyweds and they are expecting' their first child next summer.
The plane was diverted to Los Angeles and paramedics were waiting at Los Angeles International Airport when it landed around 7:30 a.m.
"Both the mother and the child were doing absolutely well," said Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Jaime Moore. "It's not very often that we are arriving to Los Angeles International Airport to accept a baby, a newborn baby, that was delivered in-flight."
Passengers took to social media using #inflightbaby and #babyonboard.
