A KLM flight bound for the Netherlands was diverted and made an emergency landing in Spain on Monday after a woman went into labour.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was taken to the front galley where she gave birth to a premature baby girl. Departing Lagos, Nigeria, and scheduled to land in Amsterdam, the plane then made an emergency landing in Barcelona.
“I can confirm that a baby was born on the KL 588 on its way from Lagos to Amsterdam,” KLM spokeswoman Marjan Rozemeijer said on Tuesday. “Due to privacy reasons, I cannot make any further statements on the birth.”
While KLM advises expectant mothers not to fly after reaching 36 weeks of pregnancy, this mom may have been before this threshold if the baby arrived prematurely.
Earlier this month a doctor delivered a breech baby on a flight from Nicaragua to Miami.
When a baby is born mid-flight, it can create a confusing legal situation regarding their citizenship. The determination usually depends on the country in which the airplane is registered, as well as the country of the airline’s nationality. While some countries will grant citizenship to infants born on their soil, it is not a universal practice. If the aircraft is within the airspace of a country when the baby is born, that country may have jurisdiction over the child’s citizenship. Ultimately, the decision of citizenship for a baby born on an airplane is left up to the authorities upon landing.
