A Carrollton nurse helped make an unexpected delivery Saturday on a Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to DFW Airport.
Cristina Penton of Phoenix, who was 36 weeks pregnant, was traveling with her two children on the flight. KDFW-TV (Channel 4) reports that within 10 to 15 minutes of the plane taking off she began to feel "not fine."
She alerted a flight attendant, who called for a medical professional, and nurse Rhondula Green knew she had to help. A pediatrician also on board the plane assisted.
“I was asking for gloves, and the pediatrician was like, ‘They don’t have any gloves.' ” Green said. “And I was like, ‘They have to find some gloves.’ And then by the time I was getting my gloves on, the head was starting to crown.”
Penton’s water broke 50 minutes after the plane took off, and the healthy baby boy was born just 10 minutes later. The flight was diverted to New Orleans, but Penton had the baby before the plane landed.
“He popped out, literally,” Green said. “Like, we barely caught him and then we just gave him to her.”
Warning: Some viewers may find the following video intense.
Spirit Airlines' policy recommends that women in their eighth month of pregnancy get a doctor's OK before flying. Penton reported having no issues with her two previous pregnancies, so she hadn't been worried about flying pregnant.
“He did what he wanted,” Penton said. “We were just all along for the ride.”
Penton named her son Christoph, although some passengers referred to him as the "Spirit Baby."
"He wanted to have an early arrival," Paul Berry, a spokesman for Spirit, said Tuesday at a news conference.
Luckily, the memory will not be lost. Fort Worth resident Shelley Hedgecock Starks filmed the whole birth.
“I just asked her, ‘Do you want me to video this so you have a memory of what's going on here?' ” Starks said. “Her husband wasn't there. Her children were in shock.”
According to USA Today, Christoph and a guest will receive a lifetime of free birthday flights on Spirit.
