US Sailor Gives Birth Aboard Aircraft Carrier in Persian Gulf
The mother said she didn't know she was pregnant.
— -- A U.S. sailor is doing fine after giving birth to a baby she said she didn't know was expecting aboard a Navy aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf on Sunday.
According to a Navy spokesman, the sailor had complained this weekend of abdominal pain and was admitted to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower's medical department.
That's when the ship's medical team discovered she was pregnant and about to give birth.
"The family practitioner aboard Ike, who delivered the baby, is certified in child birth and has experience delivering babies," said Commander Bill Urban, a spokesman for the Navy's Fifth Fleet. "A number of personnel assigned to Ike medical department have received training to deliver and care for a newborn."
The 7-pound baby girl was born on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 4:35 a.m. local time. According to Urban, both the mother and daughter are healthy and doing well. The mother said she did not know she was pregnant when the ship left Norfolk, Virginia, on June 1, Urban said.
"As the baby was born at sea aboard an operational unit, the main focus for the U.S. Navy, the ship and its crew is the safety and well-being of the baby and the mother," said Urban. "The baby and mother have arrived in Bahrain via helicopter with a medical escort and have been taken to a shore-based hospital for follow-on care."
The Navy did not provide details about the mother other than saying she was an enlisted sailor.
Sailors are required to self-report a pregnancy and pregnant sailors are not allowed on ship duty after their 20th week of pregnancy.
The carrier is on a seven-month deployment and is currently stationed in the Persian Gulf, where its aircraft are conducting air operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.