Pregnant passenger in labor diverts flight

Pregnant passenger in labor diverts flight

Delta Air Lines Flight 2566 from San Francisco to Minneapolis diverted to Salt Lake City on Wednesday when a pregnant passenger went into labor during the flight.

A pediatrician on board helped the passenger until the flight landed at about 9:45 a.m., according to CNN affiliate KUTV. The passenger was taken by the local fire department to the University of Utah Hospital, where she gave birth to a baby boy.

Both the mother and baby are in good condition, the hospital said.

“I was getting contractions about every minute almost immediately, which was really scary …” mother Allison Peery told KTVX on Thursday.

The pediatrician was a big help, she said, as were the flight attendants.

“They were great, like helping me breathe. Because we hadn’t done our classes yet, so we were really kind of out of our element,” Peery said of her and her husband, Zach. “There were about four (other people) there all breathing with me.”

The 4-pound, 6-ounce child, named Karl William Peery, is fine.

“He’s doing so well and he’s so cute,” said Allison Peery, whose family lives in Wisconsin.

It’s not the first time this month that a pregnant passenger has diverted a flight.

On December 9, a baby was born on Southwest Airlines Flight 623 shortly after its 6:24 a.m. takeoff. The aircraft departed from San Francisco bound for Phoenix, but diverted to Los Angeles International Airport at about 7:30 a.m. A nurse and doctor on board assisted with the delivery.

“It was amazing,” a flight attendant said in a video posted on the airline’s website. “All the passengers were awesome. Everybody was clapping.”

The plane was met by a Los Angeles Fire Department emergency response team upon landing, according to LAX spokeswoman Katherine Alvarado. After a two-and-a-half hour delay, the 111 other passengers aboard Flight 623 were able to continue their journey to Phoenix aboard a new aircraft.