Woman Suffering Stomach Ache on 11-Hour Flight Unexpectedly Gives Birth

The woman who gave birth aboard an 11-hour KLM flight had no idea she was pregnant.Getty

First Published: 12:50 PM PST, December 13, 2022

Tamara, who didn't realize she was pregnant, had been traveling from Ecuador to Spain when she gave birth.

A woman aboard a KLM flight didn’t even know she was pregnant when she went into labor and gave birth on the 11-hour flight, en route to her layover in Amsterdam.

New mom Tamara and her unexpected bundle of joy, Maximiliano, are now doing well and hope to make the next leg on to Spain when they fully recover, local hospital Spaarne Gasthuis said in a statement.

Tamara originally traveled from Quito to Guayaquil in Ecuador before heading to Madrid, Spain, with a layover in Amsterdam, NL.com reported.

She began to suffer abdominal pains, and decided to go to the toilet mid-flight, according to the hospital.

"To her great surprise, after two contractions, she suddenly had a baby in her hands,” the hospital said, according to NL.com. “Tamara had no idea she was pregnant and was quite taken aback by the event."

She was lucky enough to be aboard the same flight as two doctors and a nurse from Austria, who helped her after delivery, according to NL.com. Tamara later named her newborn after one of the medical professionals on board, the hospital said.

The mom and newborn were rushed by ambulance to Spaarne Gasthuis where they continue to be monitored by health professionals.

While many believe babies born on flights receive free air travel for life, KLM said in a 2016 statement that that was merely a myth. The airline added that the baby does not become a citizen of the country they are flying over, nor do they automatically become a citizen of the country they land in.

“It’s most likely you’ll get the nationality of your mother,” according to a KLM statement.