An Afghan woman delivered a baby girl aboard a US evacuation flight just after landing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the US military said Sunday.
The woman went into labor aboard a C-17 transport aircraft Saturday during her journey fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the US Air Mobility Command said.
While the flight was at its altitude, she began to experience complications, the military said.
“The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilize and save the mother’s life,” the US Air Mobility Command wrote on Twitter.
Once the flight landed at the Ramstein base, personnel from the force’s 86th Medical Group boarded the plane to help deliver the baby, the military said.
The mother and her baby girl were then transported to a nearby medical facility, where they were in “good condition,” the air force said.
Since mid-August, more than 17,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan, many of whom have been brought to the Ramstein base, CNN reported.
Brig. Gen. Josh Olson said that evacuees are expected to stay at the base for between 48 and 72 hours, but could be there up to 10 days under an agreement with Germany, the outlet reported.
