Utah woman who did not know she was pregnant gives birth on a flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu
Utah woman who did not know she was pregnant gives birth on a flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu
- Lavinia Mounga was flying to Hawaii on Wednesday when she went into labor
- She did not even know she was pregnant when she boarded the flight
- Her son Raymond was born at 26-27 weeks, one nurse on board estimated
- Mother and son are recovering in Honolulu and both are doing well
A Utah woman had the surprise of her life on a flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu, when she suddenly went into labor and gave birth – without even knowing she was pregnant.
Lavinia Mounga was flying to Hawaii on Wednesday with her family when she began having contractions.
‘Overwhelmed in the best ways,’ she tweeted on Saturday.
On the morning of her flight, she tweeted: ‘Hey let’s getawaaaaaaaaay.’
Lavinia Mounga, pictured with baby son Raymond, gave birth on Wednesday on a plane
Mounga, from Utah, did not know she was pregnant, and gave birth at around 26 weeks
Mounga’s story went viral after one passenger, Julia Hansen, announced the news on TikTok, saying in a clip: ‘A baby was just born on this plane.’
Footage then captures passengers on board the Delta flight applauding and congratulating the woman for her incredible mid-air feat.
Later, a crew member can be heard over the plane’s intercom asking passengers to remain seated ‘to allow a passenger to seek medical assistance’.
Hansen added: ‘To those wondering how she was able to fly in her third trimester, I sat next to her dad on the plane and he said they didn’t even know she was pregnant.’
Several nurses and doctors who were on the flight assisted with the birth.
Lani Bamfield, a nurse from Kansas City, wrote in a Facebook post: ‘If anyone would like to know how our trip to Hawaii is going… here’s how it started.
‘We delivered a 26-27 weeker in the airplane bathroom, in the middle of the ocean, with three NICU nurses, a Physicians assistant, and a family medicine doctor we were able to make it THREE HOURS before we could finally land but the baby and mom did great.
‘God was definitely with us up there’
The shocked mother and baby, who she named Raymond Kaimana Wade Kobe Lavaki Mounga, were taken to hospital on landing in Honolulu, in good health.
The baby’s father, Ethan Magalei, wrote on Facebook that he was stunned by the news, and described Raymond’s arrival as ‘a miracle’.
He thanked those who had assisted with the birth, and said he hopes to be ‘the best dad’.
Baby Raymond is seen in hospital in Honolulu, in good health, but born extremely premature
Jai Cunningham, a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Transportation, said the pilot and crew followed protocol and alerted them of the situation prior to landing.
‘It was a medical assist, it wasn’t deemed a medical emergency so that sort of notifies you that mom and baby were in good shape,’ Cunningham said.
‘Then the crew emergency medical services group met them and were able to transport them to a nearby hospital.’
A spokesperson for Kapiolani Medical Center told KHON: ‘Mom and baby were brought to Kapiolani and are doing good. Mom has been discharged already but baby is still in the NICU as he was born early.’
Cunningham says this type of thing does not happen very often.
‘It’s not that common for childbirth, obviously cause most of the time once women get far along in their pregnancy doctors kind of advise them against doing such things cause you’re on a plane for five, six, seven hours,’ he said.
A spokesperson from Delta Airlines confirmed in a statement the baby was born aboard their fight.
‘The safety of our crew and customers is our top priority,’ they said.
‘Our crews are well trained to manage a number of on board medical scenarios. Every aircraft is equipped with medical equipment and crews have access to expert counsel during flight when an issue occurs.’
Mounga’s sister has launched a GoFundMe to pay for their medical costs, until the family can return to Utah.
‘Our miracle baby nephew was born with three hours left on our flight and was such a strong trooper,’ she wrote.
‘Our sister did not know she was pregnant so she was just as shocked as the rest of us when our nephew was born!
‘Lavinia & baby will be staying in Hawaii longer while baby gets healthy enough to fly back home to Utah.’
She added: ‘We love our little baby and can’t wait til we are able to bring him back home to Utah.’
