'Miracle in the sky': Toronto doctor delivers baby girl mid-flight
A Toronto doctor's skills were put to the test last month when she was called upon to help perform a delivery on a transcontinental flight.
Dr. Aisha Khatib says she works well under pressure, so when the flight attendant on her Qatar Airways flight asked if there was a doctor on board, she wasted no time volunteering her skills.
The flight departed from Qatar on Dec. 7 and was bound for Uganda, where Khatib was travelling for work.
“It was about an hour into the flight,” Khatib told CTV News Toronto on Friday. “They basically asked if there was a doctor or medical personnel on board.”
Khatib, who works as the clinical director of travel medicine at MEDCAN and assistant professor with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, was directed to the back of the plane, where a woman appeared to be in labour.
“I saw this woman — she was lying with her head towards the aisle and her feet toward the window and the baby was coming,” she said.
Khatib says her training kicked into gear and she immediately began to help the woman.
“Someone threw me a pair of gloves and we had to lean over this woman to get this baby as it was coming out,” she said.
Khatib says she had to force herself into the small space between the window and the woman’s legs in order to access the delivery.
“I was right up against the window with mom pretty much straddling me as I'm trying to get enough blankets underneath to decrease the chance of having a mess,” she said.
Miracle Aisha (@AishaKhatib/Twitter)
“I was just thinking ‘I need clamps. I need scissors. If I don't have clamps, I’ll need shoelaces’ and just trying to figure out what to do with this situation if I didn't have the materials.”
Luckily, Khatib said the flight crew was equipped with a delivery kit, giving her access to birthing tools needed.
Aided by two other medical professionals flying that day — a nurse and a pediatrician — Khatib says she was able to deliver the baby girl in a healthy and safe manner.
“I was able to cut the cords, cut the umbilical cord. And check the baby over,” she said. “The baby was crying and had colour and so I gave her a good rubdown and passed her over to the pediatrician,” she said.
The successful delivery was met with a round of applause from onlooking travellers.
“Mom looked okay — she looked stable, so I was like, ‘Congratulations. It's a girl!’ and the whole plane just started clapping,” Khatib said.
“I had totally forgotten I was delivering a baby on a plane.”
Both the mother and baby were in good enough shape to continue for the remainder of the flight. They were moved to first-class and monitored for the remaining five hours, Khatib said.
In a tweet, Qatar Airways said they are "truly grateful for the incredible efforts" of Khatib and are glad to hear the mothe rand baby are doing well.
The mother, a Ugandan woman, decided to thank Khatib by naming the baby after the doctor.
“She named her Miracle Aisha,” Khatib said.
Khatib says she has kept up with the mother and baby, both of which she says are doing well in Uganda.
As a token to remember her by, Khatib left the baby girl with a small gift.
“I happened to be wearing a necklace of my name in Arabic at the time and so I gave it to her,” she said.
“I wanted her to know where she came from — delivered by a lady named Aisha as we flew over the Nile.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Humboldt Broncos bus crash survivor qualifies Canada for Paralympics in rowing event
Former Humboldt Broncos goaltender and bus crash survivor Jacob Wassermann has qualified Canada for a rowing event for the 2024 Paralympic games in Paris.
Baby boom amongst nurses leads to maternity ward closure in Listowel, Ont.
The emergency room at Listowel’s hospital is open today, but come summer, their obstetrics unit will be temporarily closing its delivery rooms.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
Krispy Kreme doughnuts coming to McDonald's in U.S., but not Canada
Canadians will be missing out on a sweet new partnership between McDonald's and Krispy Kreme, which will see doughnuts available at McDonald's locations across the U.S. by the end of 2026.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.