Imagine going on a family vacation in the middle of a global pandemic only to prematurely give birth to a baby you didn’t even know you were having…on the flight there"!
We know. We can’t imagine it either. But for Utah resident Lavinia Mounga, this imaginary scenario became a reality last week when she went into labour midway through a packed flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu.
The TikTok video below shows the aftermath of the totally unbelievable scenario. In it, we hear supportive passengers applauding mom and baby as they’re being wheeled down the aisle and off the plane. The video was posted by Julia Hansen and has been viewed over three million times.

@juliaberniceIt?s the ?baby being born while we?re above the Pacific Ocean? for me? original sound – Julia Hansen
So, what actually happened"
Once the cabin crew and passengers clued in to the unexpected delivery, the medical emergency call went out quickly. The response was an unlikely one: Three NICU nurses and one doctor were, coincidentally, also on the flight, and immediately came rushing to the scene.
“I don’t know how a patient gets so lucky as to have three neonatal intensive care nurses on board the same flight when she is in emergency labour,” said family physician Dr. Dale Glenn, who also helped Mounga safely care for the newborn.
Nurse Lani Bamfield was the first to respond and found both the mom and the just-delivered baby, born at only 29 week...