Mom gives birth to son mid-flight on American Airlines plane

HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) – American Airlines passengers had a once-in-a-lifetime experience when a baby was born mid-flight in early September.

Mother Kendra Rhoden lives in Hartford, Connecticut and was traveling to the Dominican Republic at seven months pregnant when her water broke on the flight. She was six weeks out from her due date.

According to the Mayo Clinic, generally, commercial air travel before week 36 of pregnancy is considered safe if you have a healthy pregnancy.

Rhoden said while she was asleep on the plane, she felt her baby kick, and then her water broke.

Nurses on board came to help, but it didn’t take long for Rhoden’s baby boy to make his debut on the flight.

“Everything just happened so fast, it just happened so quick,” Rhoden said.

When the plane landed in the Dominican Republic, Rhoden and her newborn were taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Doctors there made sure the two stayed long enough until it was safe for them to fly back home, which ended up being a few weeks.

Rhoden and her son are now safe back home in Connecticut.

“I feel good now because I’m home and he’s safe, he’s where he needs to be right now,” Rhoden said. “So, I would say I’m happier than I was in the Dominican Republic.”

Rhoden named her son Skylan, a nod to his birth in the sky. Skylan’s birth certificate lists him as a U.S. citizen with a place of birth as “in the air.”

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