Canadian Doctor Helps Ugandan Woman to Deliver a Baby Mid-Flight

A Canadian doctor has earned praise for successfully helping to deliver a baby mid-flight.

University of Toronto Professor Aisha Khatib was on board a Qatar Airways flight from Doha (Qatar) to Entebbe (Uganda) when she was called into action after a female passenger, about 35 weeks pregnant with her first child, complained of abdominal pains.

Doctor Aisha came forward after the pilot used a PA system to ask whether there was a medic on board to help the woman, a Ugandan immigrant worker who was returning home, to deliver.

"I saw a crowd of people gathered around the patient. At this point I was assuming it was a critical situation, like a heart attack,” Dr. Aisha told BBC News.

"As I got closer I saw the woman lying on the seat with her head toward the aisle and feet towards the window and the baby was coming out!"

An oncology nurse and a pediatrician who were on board the plane helped Aisha to deliver the baby.

"I looked at the baby, and she was stable, and I looked at the mom and she was OK. So I was like, 'Congratulations it's a girl,' Aisha said.

“Then the entire plane started clapping and cheering and was like 'Oh right, I'm on a plane and everybody is watching this.'"

As a sign of appreciation, the new mother named the girl Miracle Aisha, after the doctor.

"The best part of the story is that she decided to name the baby after me," said Dr. Aisha.

Consequently, the doctor gifted the infant a golden chain with the name Aisha engraved on it in Arabic as a keepsake.

"I thought I'd give it to her and she'll have a little token of the doctor that delivered her 35,000ft in the air while flying over the Nile," she added.

While the incident happened on December 5th last year, Dr. Aisha only made it known this week after sharing photos on Twitter.