Heliport
20th Aug 2001, 17:59
A baby has been born in a Royal Navy rescue helicopter en route to a maternity unit.
The 6lb boy was delivered in the back of the Sea King helicopter off Land's End.
It is believed to be the first birth aboard a military aircraft.
The aircraft was scrambled from the Culdrose Navy base near Helston to the Isles of Scilly to pick up Niki Burns.
She had experienced a complication while in labour in hospital on the main island of St Mary's.
She and her husband were airlifted, together with a civilian doctor and midwife.
They set off for the Royal Cornwall hospital at Treliske, Truro, but 10 miles from Land's End the woman gave birth with the help of a Royal Navy paramedic and the civilian medical staff.
The helicopter landed at the hospital 22 minutes after the child was born.
"Apparently there were no complications," said a Royal Navy spokesman.
The 6lb boy was delivered in the back of the Sea King helicopter off Land's End.
It is believed to be the first birth aboard a military aircraft.
The aircraft was scrambled from the Culdrose Navy base near Helston to the Isles of Scilly to pick up Niki Burns.
She had experienced a complication while in labour in hospital on the main island of St Mary's.
She and her husband were airlifted, together with a civilian doctor and midwife.
They set off for the Royal Cornwall hospital at Treliske, Truro, but 10 miles from Land's End the woman gave birth with the help of a Royal Navy paramedic and the civilian medical staff.
The helicopter landed at the hospital 22 minutes after the child was born.
"Apparently there were no complications," said a Royal Navy spokesman.