Hero doctor delivered healthy baby girl on board a Wizz Air flight to Luton

A doctor had an unexpected end to his holiday, as he was drafted in to help deliver a baby on his flight back to Luton.

Dr Hassan Khan, an A&E doctor at Basildon Hospital, was on a Luton-bound Wizz Air flight with his five friends, all doctors, returning from a trip to Amman in Jordan when a woman went into labour.

The 38-year-old mother's water broke two hours in to the flight – and the crew issued the classic ‘is there a doctor on board’ appeal.

As the only doctor with experience delivering babies and newborn resuscitation training, Dr Khan examined the mum. With the help of his fellow doctors and crew, he used borrowed passengers’ towels and standby oxygen masks to safely deliver a baby girl.

The mum didn’t speak English, posing a challenge with the language barrier, but thankfully, another passenger was able to act as a translator.

Dr Khan said: “I had to stay really focused to have the baby delivered with the limited support I had and look after the baby right after the delivery. The focus and criticality of the moment helped me filter-out the distractions from the panicked passengers and crew.

“I was so fixated on managing the situation, I almost forgot we were on an aircraft, and it felt surreal to help deliver a baby safely with more than two hundred unknown passengers and flight crew around.”

The plane was diverted to Brindisi Airport in southern Italy so that the mum and her baby could be taken to hospital.

A Wizz Air spokesperson said: “A baby born in the sky is always a heart-warming event. Wizz Air employees are well trained to handle all kinds of situations and we were delighted that a doctor was also onboard to help deliver the baby. The flight was diverted to Brindisi Airport where the passenger and newborn were greeted by local medical services.

"We are delighted that both mum and baby are doing well and wish them all the best.”

And his advice for those ever in a similar situation with no medical professional available is: "Stay calm, use whatever resources are available, tap into the birthing experience of the mothers on board, and work together to help the birthing mum."