A sailor aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf gave birth over the weekend even as her ship conducted airstrikes against the Islamic State, according to a report.
According to an internal memo obtained by Navy Times, a third class petty officer from Air Wing 3 on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower gave birth to a healthy 7-pound baby girl in the early hours of Sunday.
“Both the mother and the baby are healthy and are doing well,” 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban said of the new family.
Pregnant service members would usually leave an operational command at 20 weeks and would not deploy. However, neither the mother nor her command knew she was pregnant before Saturday when she checked into the carrier’s medical clinic following stomach pains.
“As the baby was born at sea aboard an operational unit, the main focus for the U.S. Navy, the ship and its crew is the safety and well-being of the baby and the mother,” Urban said in an email.
The mother and child were eventually airlifted to Bahrain with a medical escort and are en route to a local hospital, Urban said.
“The family practitioner aboard Ike, who delivered the baby, is certified in child birth and has experience delivering babies,” Urban added. “A number of personnel assigned to Ike medical department have received training to deliver and care for a newborn.”
