Baby Born During Southwest Airlines Flight

December 7, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under: News

Southwest Airlines Flight 441 from Chicago to Salt Lake City last Friday added an additional passenger near Denver when a five pound baby boy was born and added to the passenger list.

The baby arrived about one month premature when the mother suddenly went into labor. Lucky for her, she was seated in the row in front of Dr. John Saran, an internal medicine specialist from Edward Hospital in Naperville, Illinois.

Dr. Saran had just dozed off when his wife woke him and informed him the pilot was asking if there was a doctor on the flight. He remembers his wife saying, “John, wake up, wake up, you’ve got to help deliver this baby!”

He quickly discovered he was not dreaming, and that there was about to be a baby delivered on the plane. Dr. Saran had not delivered a baby since he was in medical school 30 years ago.

The passenger was moved to the rear galley where flight attendants assisted Dr. Saran and another physician together with two nurses who happened to be on board. The makeshift medical team was in constant contact with the arline’s oncall medical service via telephone.

The baby was delivered at approximately 10:45 a.m. MST at a cruising altitude approximately 100 miles north of Denver. The Captain diverted the flight to Denver International Airport where the woman, her husband and the newborn infant were taken to Medical Center of Aurora South. According a hospital spokesperson, both baby and mother are doing fine.