SURPRISING: Woman Give Birth On Board Arik Flight?

An Arik Air flight with over 100 passengers en route to London Sunday was forced to make an emergency landing in Palmas, Spain, as a woman went into labour and gave birth while the aircraft was airborne.
The pilot was said to have requested the emergency landing on the advice of two doctors who were on board the aircraft and had helped the mother deliver the baby. After the birth of the child, the mother, whose identity has so far been withheld, was said to have experienced excessive hemorrhaging, necessitating the emergency landing.
At the time of this report, both mother and child were said to have been stable but were left behind in Palmas for monitoring by medical personnel, while the flight continued on its journey to London.
On enquiry, ThisDay learnt that the airline was trying to ascertain if the woman had presented a false medical report from her doctor on the true duration of her pregnancy or she had gone into premature labour while on board the flight.
Women with full term pregnancies are not allowed to travel by air, according to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations. As such, intending pregnant passengers are required to present medical reports certifying that they are less than 32 weeks pregnant before they are allowed to fly.
A source said the airline was carrying out a full-scale investigation to ascertain the genuineness of the medical report presented by the woman. Arik Air’s management said yesterday that if it is discovered that the woman was given a false report to enable her fly, it would file a special complaint against the doctor who had issued the medical report to the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) for endangering her life and that of the baby, as well that of other passengers on board the flight.
ThisDay learnt that when the passenger went into labour, the cabin crew had asked that doctors on board the flight to identify themselves. Following the announcement, two of the passengers came forward, saying they were doctors and assisted in the delivery of the baby.
Source: ThisDay
UPDATE: Nobody delivered baby on our flight - Arik
Arik Air has debunked claims by a section of the media (not The Punch) that a woman gave birth on board its flight from Lagos.
A statement by Arik on Monday explained that contrary to claims that the pregnant woman gave birth aboard the flight on Sunday, the woman only suffered a miscarriage.
The statement signed by Arik’s Public Relations and Communications Manager, Mr. Adebanji Ola, also stated that the woman in question was 12 weeks pregnant.
The statement said, “The Arik Air flight W3 101 which departed Lagos for London Heathrow on Sunday, diverted to Palma Mallorca Airport, Spain at 5:44pm due to urgent medical attention for a 12-week pregnant woman on board.
“The passenger reportedly developed severe pain during the course of the flight. The pain was later coupled with bleeding with a suspected miscarriage.
“The passenger, who was initially attended to by two medical doctors on board the flight, was 12 weeks pregnant. She was later transferred to a hospital in Mallorca for further medical attention. This is contrary to a report in some papers to the effect that a woman gave birth on board Arik flight to London.”
The statement added that the flight later departed Mallorca at 8pm for London Heathrow.
The statement explained that the pregnant woman did not indicate her pregnancy status to the airline’s Passenger Service Agents at check-in and because her pregnancy was 12 weeks, the team didn’t notice her status.
Source: Punch