On Saturday, Oyindamola Akinyera, a Nigerian woman who shared her journey on Instagram, delivered a baby girl while flying on a Qatar Airways flight from Lagos to Brazil.
In a Wednesday Instagram update, Akinyera revealed that she and her husband, David, were en route to their “honeymoon and baby-moon” getaway and that her doctor had approved her for air travel.
Several hours into the connecting flight from Doha to Brazil, she started to feel what she assumed were typical pregnancy-related 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 observed that, with assistance from another traveler who was a doctor, the flight attendants promptly evaluated the situation and determined that she was truly in labor.
“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 grew stronger, she mentioned that her husband fervently prayed, grasped her hand, and guided her throughout 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.
Akinyera 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.
