Lavinia “Lavi” Mounga has has a one-of-a-kind birth story to tell her son, Raymond, about how he was born on a flight to Hawaii.
Not only did Mounga not know she was pregnant when she boarded the flight, but she delivered the little boy after falling unconscious in a tiny airplane bathroom.
“I was having cramps so I went to the restroom,” Mounga revealed on Monday’s episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” “And then I passed out for a little.”
When Mounga woke up, she was a mom.
“It was … the shock of my life!” Mounga said, adding that Raymond was also the best surprise she has ever received.
The baby was born at 29 weeks gestation on April 28, and he needed medical attention. On average, a pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, counting from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period. Mounga needed assistance as well.
Luckily, there were five healthcare professionals on board the flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu who were eager to help.
Physician assistant Lindsay Maughan was the first one on the scene.
“Someone was yelling, ‘Medical! Medical!” Maughan told DeGeneres. “And so I jumped up from my seat and ran up to the bathroom."
That’s when Mounga’s sister-in-law informed Maughan that Mounga had just given birth.
“She opened the door and there was Lavi holding her tiny little preemie baby.”
Maughan was soon joined by Dr. Dale Glenn and neonatal intensive care nurses Lani Bamfield, Amanda Beeding and Mimi Ho, who all happened to be on the flight to Hawaii. The team used shoelaces to tie and cut through the umbilical cord. They then crafted baby warmers out of microwaved bottles, and used an Apple Watch to measure Raymond’s heart rate for the remaining three hours of the flight.
Glenn previously told TODAY Parents that Mounga was very lucky.
“The idea that this baby had a doctor and three NICU nurses is nothing short of miraculous. It blows me away as a doctor," Glenn explained. "I don't think people realize how rare this is; there have only been about sixty babies born on airplanes in history. This is literally one in a billion chance kind of thing."
Raymond, who is now 2 weeks old, is still at the hospital, but is “doing so good” according to Mounga.