A woman gave birth to a baby boy on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago that had to be diverted to Denver International Airport.
Spokesman Paul Flaningan of Dallas-based Southwest says Flight 441 was about 100 miles north of Denver Friday when the unidentified woman went into labor. Flaningan said the captain decided to divert to Denver, but she started to deliver the baby en route.
"I was just more excited than anything else, and it happened really quickly," said Sherry Osborne, a flight attendant. "It wasn't like a whole lot of time to let that set in."
A doctor and two nurses on board helped deliver the baby at the back of the plane with the help of flight attendants and an in-flight medical radio service.
"She had a few pains, but she was really good," said Dr. John Saran, who delivered the baby. "She was really a trooper, and the baby came out very quickly and easily and fortunately, very normal."
The mother and baby were met at the gate by an ambulance and taken to the Medical Center of Aurora, where a spokeswoman said they're doing fine.
After stopping in Denver, the flight continued on to Salt Lake City and then Boise as scheduled.
