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Baby born on coastguard helicopter 1,400ft above Cornwall | Baby born on coastguard helicopter 1,400ft above Cornwall |
(about 9 hours later) | |
A baby boy has been born mid-flight on the way to hospital in a coastguard helicopter over Cornwall. | |
Emergency crews received a call on Saturday night to urgently assist a woman who had gone into labour while visiting the Isles of Scilly. | |
There was no midwife on the islands in South West England, so the family needed to get to the mainland quickly. | |
Baby Torran was born 1,400ft (426m) over Penzance, was healthy and "doing well", a coastguard spokesman said. | |
More news from Devon and Cornwall | More news from Devon and Cornwall |
The Newquay Coastguard helicopter was scrambled at about 19:00 BST, collected midwife Linda Benson, touched down at St Mary's Airport, picked up Alicia MacDonald and her husband, Sandy, then began the trip to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. | |
There is a midwife based on the Isles of Scilly, but she was not on call when Mrs MacDonald started going into labour, so a standby team based on the mainland stepped in. | |
However, the baby decided to make an appearance on board the aircraft, and at just before 21:00 BST, with the help of midwife Linda and aircrew, 7lb 8oz (3.4kg) Torran was born. | |
Alicia MacDonald said: "Torran is doing fine and we'd like to thank the coastguard, the midwife and the midwifery team at the hospital." | |
'Landing with eight' | 'Landing with eight' |
Jonathan Mustard, aeronautical operations controller for HM Coastguard, said: "This is the second time that a baby has been born on board a coastguard helicopter. | Jonathan Mustard, aeronautical operations controller for HM Coastguard, said: "This is the second time that a baby has been born on board a coastguard helicopter. |
"The last one was born over Lunna Holm, Shetland in December 2012. | "The last one was born over Lunna Holm, Shetland in December 2012. |
"It's rare to hear that our helicopter launched with seven people on board but were preparing to land with eight. Congratulations, mum and dad." | |
Another boy was born onboard a Royal Navy rescue helicopter in 2013 on the way to Cornwall from the Isles of Scilly. | Another boy was born onboard a Royal Navy rescue helicopter in 2013 on the way to Cornwall from the Isles of Scilly. |