Boise passengers on board plane as woman gives birth

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Story Published: Dec 4, 2009 at 5:22 PM MDT

Story Updated: Dec 5, 2009 at 5:37 PM MDT

By Kiersten Throndsen

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DENVER - A woman on a plane headed to Boise is a proud mother after giving birth to a baby boy mid-flight.

Flight crews are used to turbulence and weather delays but delivering babies isn't usually included in the job description.

"We don't deliver babies everyday but we did today and it was really exciting," said Sherry Osborne, one of the flight attendants on board.

"This is the first baby I've seen delivered on a plane," said Seth Koppenhaver, the co-pilot of the plane.

Friday morning a Southwest flight started in Chicago with 121 passengers but when it landed 122 got off after a woman reportedly - eight months pregnant - couldn't wait to deliver.

"Lisa tells me we have a lady who is getting ready to deliver her baby right now and I didn't think she heard her correctly," said Osborne.

The flight was going to make a stop in Salt Lake City before landing in Boise but at 38,000 feet in the air over Nebraska it got diverted.

"We got a hold of our company and while I was talking to the company they kept calling back every minute saying the baby is coming, the baby is coming," said Jasperson.

The crew asked if any passengers happened to be doctors and sure enough one was on board.

"I pulled the shoe string out of my shoes so that baby is walking around with one of my shoe strings on it's umbilical cord," said Dr. John Saran - he helped deliver the baby on board.

The plane made a emergency stop in Denver where baby and mom were taken to a local hospital. A hospital spokeswoman says both are doing fine. As for the crew and passengers who finally made it to Boise: "This will definitely go into the books as one of the top ones - (flights) - absolutely," said Osborne.

Southwest says it has no travel restrictions for pregnant women. A spokesman says they leave it up to the women and their individual doctors.

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