A U.S. Navy sailor unexpectedly gave birth to a baby girl Sunday morning on board an aircraft carrier stationed in the Persian Gulf.
The sailor began suffering from stomach pains while on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on Saturday and checked herself into the carrier’s clinic, then gave birth to a healthy, 7-pound girl around nine hours later, Navy Times reported Monday, citing an internal memo concerning the incident.
Neither the mother nor anyone in her command chain was aware she had been pregnant until Saturday, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban told Navy Times.
Navy policy requires expectant sailors to self-report pregnancies within two weeks of being notified by a doctor and only permits pregnant mothers to remain deployed at sea up until their 20th week.
“While it would have been preferred to send her to her homeport earlier, per policy, we are now focused on caring for the health and welfare of our sailor and the newest member of our Navy family,” Cmdr. Urban said in a statement.
The Navy has not released the name of the mother or child due to privacy concerns, but identified the sailor as a third-class petty officer from Carrier Air Wing 3 — which has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
The newborn was delivered by a family practitioner who is certified in childbirth and has experience delivering babies, the spokesman said.
“A number of personnel assigned to Ike medical department have received training to deliver and care for a newborn,” he added.
The mother and infant were airlifted a few hours after the delivery to Bahrain where they were expected to be taken to a local hospital, according to the spokesman.
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