A woman who had no idea that she was pregnant shockingly gave birth mid-flight on a KLM Royal Dutch flight from Guyaquil, Ecuador, to Spain.
The new mother, identified as Tamara, was caught off guard last week on the KLM flight when she went to the bathroom due to stomach pain and ended up giving birth.
Fortunately for her, some medical professionals were also onboard the flight and assisted with the surprise delivery on Wednesday, Dec 7.
When the flight stopped in Amsterdam for a layover, Tamara and her newborn baby were taken to a hospital for medical attention.
The hospital spokesperson explained:
“A few hours before landing in the Netherlands, her stomach hurt and she decided to go to the toilet. To her great surprise, after two contractions, she suddenly had a baby in her hands.
“Tamara had no idea she was pregnant and was quite taken aback by the event.”
Two doctors and a nurse from Austria were passengers on the plane and were able to assist with the surprise delivery, a spokesperson on the airline said, adding that KLM is very grateful to the medical practitioners for their help.
It was learnt that the mother and her infant, whom she named Maximiliano after one of the helpful passengers who stayed with her and helped with the delivery, are currently doing fine.
The flight landed at Schiphol Airport on Thursday, Dec 8, and Tamara and baby Maximiliano were taken by ambulance to Spaarne Gasthuis Haarlem Zuid hospital.
A cryptic pregnancy (or stealth pregnancy) is when a pregnant person doesn’t know they’re pregnant. In some cases, a person may only realize they’re pregnant because labor begins. Most people realize they’re pregnant somewhere between four and 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Typically, cryptic pregnancies happen to people who have hormonal imbalances — either due to natural causes, hormonal birth control, or approaching perimenopause.
A cryptic pregnancy is any pregnancy not detected until after 20 weeks. Some women aren’t aware they’re pregnant until they go into labour. In this case, the cryptic pregnancy could be 40 weeks or longer. That means a cryptic pregnancy can last between 20 and 40 weeks.
Cryptic pregnancy is a real condition, though it’s uncommon and somewhat misunderstood.
“A pregnant person can continue to have bleeding that resembles menstrual periods, can have irregular bleeding, or can not have periods but not think of this as a sign they might be pregnant due to having underlying conditions that make their periods very irregular already.”
