A Nigerian woman, identified as Oyindamola Akinyera on Instagram, gave birth to a baby girl on a Qatar Airways flight from Lagos to Brazil on Saturday.
Akinyera disclosed this in a post on her Instagram page on Wednesday, explaining that she was traveling with her husband, David, to their “honeymoon and baby-moon” destination and had been cleared for air travel by her doctor.
However, a few hours into the connecting flight from Doha to Brazil, she began experiencing what she thought were regular pregnancy backaches.
Her post partly read, “A few hours later, we get to Doha, explore the grounds; everything is great, and we’re having the best time.. until we get on the connecting flight to Brazil.
“Few hours into the flight and I start having what I thought were regular pregnancy backaches. I had been flying for hours, so it made sense. I thought it was something (sic) sleep could fix since we had hours till landing. The air hostesses gave me the princess treatment, laid my bed and I was ready to finally snooze.
“The waves of discomfort continued in my lower back, and to be safe, I had one of the air hostesses take my vitals. We were good. No signs of labour!”
She added that as they were crossing the Atlantic, she felt heavily constipated and needed to use the restroom, so she asked her husband to come with her.
“Next thing, I take one big push and I pee instead—or so I thought. My water had broken. I didn’t even realise I was in labour. I just kept saying, ‘I need to sleep’ and would casually nod off (mid labour?)
“The pains kept waking me up, and the Qatarairlines air hostesses (my personal midwives) sprung into action,” she wrote.
She noted that, with the help of a fellow passenger who happened to be a doctor, the air hostesses quickly assessed the situation and realised that she was indeed in laboir.
“They set up a whole birthing station for me at the entrance of the plane. Everything was happening so fast, and all I was thinking is that I have to hold on till we land to have this baby!
“They asked if there was any doctor on board, and a doctor called Carolina walked up to us and is like ‘I deliver babies.’ What in the movie scene?
“Dr Carolina checks me, tells me I’m fully dilated, and the baby is ready to come. At this point, we’re in the Brazilian airspace and about 40 minutes from landing,” Akinyera explained.
As the contractions intensified, she said her husband kept praying intensely, holding her hand, and coaching her through the process.
“The contractions kick in, and I’m pushing in my makeshift birthing station with my husband on one side, praying intensely. Midway, I get tired and tell them I can’t do it anymore, and my God-sent Qatarairlines crew (aka midwives) prayed over me and encouraged me to keep going.
“Twenty minutes before landing, God blessed us with the most precious baby girl,” she wrote.
Adeyera added that they landed in Brazil safely and headed straight to the hospital, “where the beautiful baby girl and I are doing great.”
“David and I’s hearts are filled with immense joy. I have seen God move countless times in my life, but this one beats all others. I had a supernatural birth, and it’s all thanks to God Almighty,” the new mum concluded.
It was reported in May 2020 that a Nigerian woman gave birth to a baby mid-air on the repatriation flight from the United Arab Emirates.
