In some happy news, a baby girl was born on an IndiGo flight 6E 649 from Bangalore to Jaipur. The cabin crew and a doctor onboard helped delivered the baby on the flight, and the mother and child are stable. Let's find out more about this latest case of a birth onboard.

Special flight

It was a usual IndiGo flight 6E 469 from Bangalore to Jaipur, departing at 05:40 AM and arriving at 08:00 AM local time. However, there was a miracle onboard this daily service, with a passenger going into labor during the flight.

Cabin crew are trained in the rare case of births onboard, ensuring they are not completely unprepared. Luckily, there was also a doctor on this flight, Dr. Subahana Nazir, ensuring that the process went as smoothly as possible.

IndiGo Crew
IndiGo provided Dr. Nazir with a 'Thank You' card on the ground in Jaipur. Photo: IndiGo

The baby was delivered safely and IndiGo promptly requested Jaipur Airport to be prepared with medical service on the ground for the extra passenger! In a statement, the airline confirmed that both the mother and child are stable, ensuring a happy ending to this surprise.

Meanwhile, IndiGo teams on the ground in Jaipur quickly made a Thank You card for Dr. Nazir for her help in assisting the baby's delivery.

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Second time

This happens to be the second time in six months that a baby has been born on an IndiGo flight. In October, a passenger gave birth to a baby boy during a flight from Delhi to Bangalore, adding one more passenger to the manifest! The story quickly went viral, with many applauding the IndiGo cabin crew for their swift and committed work.

IndiGo
IndiGo will continue to grow its presence as soon as it can again. Photo: Airbus

While both babies were born safely, how often do births occur on a flight? According to MedAire, an aviation medical support firm, births on flights only occur once in 26 million passengers. Considering 4.5 billion passengers took to the skies in 2019, that would mean roughly 173 childbirths every year.

However, flights are hardly the ideal place to give birth to a child, which is why airlines do not allow pregnant women to travel after certain dates. Most airlines prevent expecting mothers from traveling after 36 weeks of pregnancy and require a certificate from a doctor during the last month. In cases of complications or risk of premature births, travel is strongly discouraged.

Miracles

Considering that childbirth on flights is rare, they have become popular events, with airlines usually celebrating them in some way. Some airlines have gone as far as letting the newborn travel for free through their lifetime or offering a miles reward to the lucky few. It's currently unknown if IndiGo will do something similar to celebrate this birth.

IndiGo A320neo
IndiGo originally planned to begin flying to Darbhanga in February but opted to delay its plans. Photo: Getty Images

What do you think about airlines offering benefits to children born on flights? Let us know in the comments!