Navy team plays midwife aboard Air India flight

The Indian naval team, en route to South Pole confronted with an unexpected emergency in the skies over Europe aboard an Air India flight to New York via Paris on November 23. The team promptly swung into action after the pilot, urgently announced that Deepiksha Patel, eight months pregnant, had gone into labour.
"The woman was about to deliver. The problem was complicated since the baby girl was in a breech presentation (delivered buttocks or feet first as opposed to the usual head-first position)," said a naval officer here.
Fortunately, the naval team included Surgeon Lieutenant Ajay Sharma, a 30-year-old naval doctor, and assistant petty officer Rakesh Kumar, 32, a medical assistant in the submarine cadre. "The two immediately rushed to the woman's rescue since the nearest airport at that time was Paris, which was two hours away. A psychiatrist named Dr Castelino, also on board the flight, assisted them while they attended to the woman," he said.
Barely 10 minutes later, in a secluded corner of the aircraft, Sharma and Kumar delivered the baby girl with great care since there was "a distinct possibility of damage to the child" due to the breech presentation. "Sharma and Kumar had to resuscitate the baby with a straw to open up her lungs. They took care of the mother and child even as the plane raced to Paris, from where paramedics took over," said the officer.
30/11/06 Rajat Pandit/Times of India

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