Los Angeles Doctor Delivers Baby on Plane While Flying Back from Honeymoon in Taiwan

Photo: Edmund Chen/AP

A newlywed doctor’s honeymoon became even more memorable when she delivered a baby mid-flight.

Dr. Angelica Zen, a UCLA physician, was traveling back from her honeymoon in Taiwan when a woman went into labor over the Pacific Ocean. The resident doctor had to think fast, performing her very first unassisted delivery of a baby, as the plane diverted to Alaska, where the mother and her newborn daughter were rushed to a hospital.

“When the baby came out healthy, I was just very relieved,” said the fourth-year resident, who had only previously delivered two infants under the supervision of other doctors.

“They initially told me it was just a lady having some abdominal pain, so I thought it was going to be something simple,” she told the AP. “But when I saw her she was, like, very pregnant.”

While Zen remained calm under the pressure, her husband was, well, less so.

“I think he was more nervous than I was,” she said.

After the baby was delivered safely, the whole cabin erupted into applause. Fellow passenger Edmund Chen filmed the incident from one row behind.

“The baby got delivered, and everybody applauded,” Chen said. “I don’t really like to video other people, but this was just a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”