Ryanair flight from Brussels to Spain diverted to France after woman gives birth to baby girl

Flight FR4797, which departed Brussels South Charleroi Airport at 1.30pm (CEST) on Thursday, May 8, was en route to Castellón de la Plana, Spain, when a young woman on board went into labour shortly after takeoff.

According to AirNav Radar, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, registered EI-EFO, had reached a cruising altitude at 35,000 feet when the medical emergency began. The cabin crew responded swiftly, coordinating with air traffic control to reroute the flight.

The aircraft was diverted to France, where emergency medical teams were on standby. However, before landing, the woman gave birth to a baby girl onboard. Both the mother and baby were safely transferred to hospital upon landing.

According to reports, the woman was helped by Belgian MP Kathleen Depoorter and her son, Sebastiaan, a doctor, as the baby was born onboard.

Depoorter, who was flying to Spain to celebrate her son’s birthday with family, told The Olive Press: “I saw a woman come out of the bathroom and explain to the stewards that she was feeling unwell. When I heard her say that she has been pregnant for 37 weeks, all of my alarms started going off.”

Acting quickly, she alerted the pilot: “I asked the pilot to make an emergency landing, and he complied.” However, the baby arrived sooner than expected.

“The woman was having contractions every seven minutes, which would have been enough time to land,” Depoorter said. “But everything went so fast that we had to construct a maternity ward in the back of the plane, and she gave birth there.”

Depoorter, who studied pharmacy, and her son, along with other medical professionals onboard, assisted in the delivery.

Ryanair has been contacted for comment.