New born on board
A woman who secretly gave birth in an aeroplane toilet then allegedly abandoned her baby inside a bin in the cubicle could face criminal charges. Skip related content
Related photos / videos Secret Plane Toilet Birth Mum May Be Charged The 30-year-old mother is believed to have been travelling from Samoa to Auckland when she went into labour unnoticed.
Airline Pacific Blue said the baby was only discovered an hour after the flight landed at 5.20am, as one of its members of staff cleaned the toilet.
Meanwhile, the woman who disembarked was identified in the airport terminal because of her blooded clothes, local media reported.
She was taken by police to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital, where she underwent surgery and was reunited with her baby, whose gender has not been revealed.
Incredibly, none of the 150 passengers or the air stewards on the flight realised the woman was going into labour.
But the airline's general manager Adrian Hamilton-Manns said: "It's a nice, in a strange way - it's a nice thing to happen.
"We feel a great connection with this little baby, so we've already been in touch with the Samoan High Commissioner in Auckland.
"We've extended all support we possibly can to bringing out relatives, to providing our support, and also to our staff as well."
Immigration officials are investigating what information the woman provided on her visa application and how she was able to board the airplane at such an advanced stage of pregnancy.
Mr Hamilton-Manns insisted the airline had adhered to its procedures.
He said: "Our processes were followed for that flight, where all people who were pregnant were actually asked about how far pregnant they were."
A spokesperson from the hospital said both mother and baby were doing well.
