Afghan woman gives birth to baby girl on US aircraft at Germany air base

Amid chaos triggered by Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, evacuees finally got a reason to smile when an Afghan mother delivered a baby girl aboard a US military evacuation flight, moments after touching down at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Saturday, said the US Air Force on its social media account.  

The US Air Mobility Command said in a tweet on Sunday, “The woman went into labour aboard a C-17 transport aircraft during the second leg of her journey fleeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The flight was from a staging base in the Middle East to the large US air base in Germany.”  

When the aircraft was at its flight altitude, above 28,000 feet (8,534 meters), the mother began to have complications due to the lower air pressure in the plane, the US Air Force said.  

On Twitter, US Air Mobility Command added, "The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilise and save the mother's life."  

After the plane was on the ground at Ramstein base, Air Force's 86th Medical Group personnel assisted in the delivery of the baby in the C-17's cargo bay. The mother and baby were then transported to a nearby medical facility. They are now in good condition.