MUMBAI: In a rare early-morning medical emergency at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), swift coordination between airport medical and operations teams led to the safe delivery of a baby girl inside an airport ambulance on February 10.
The incident occurred at around 5am on Tuesday, when airport medical teams were alerted about a female transit passenger in urgent need of assistance. The 26-year-old Tanzanian national, around 36 weeks pregnant, was in the International-to-International transit area and experiencing severe abdominal pain.
Doctors reached her within minutes and found her in labour, said an airport spokesperson. “What followed was a race against time, executed with quiet precision,” the official said. The woman was placed on an airport ambulance buggy stretcher and moved via the terminal lift to the nearby ambulance, with assistance from airline staff and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Terminal operations teams coordinated with immigration officials to issue a temporary transit visa, ensuring there was no procedural delay.
By 5:40am, the ambulance left for a nearby hospital with the airport medical team and airline staff onboard. However, as the vehicle made its way through early-morning traffic the woman delivered a healthy baby girl with the medical team’s help. The medical team assisted with the immediate neo-natal care.
“There was no hospital ward or operating theatre, only the steady hands of trained medical professionals. Immediate neonatal care was administered. The newborn announced her arrival with a healthy cry,” the airport spokesperson said.
By 5:55am, both mother and child reached the hospital’s emergency room, where further procedures were completed. Hospital authorities later confirmed that both are stable and healthy.