Parents of a baby delivered on board of a U.S. Air Force evacuation flight from Afghanistan named her Reach — after the transport aircraft’s call sign.
Both the baby and her Afghan mother, who went into labor mid-air on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III flying from Kabul to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, are in good condition, Head of U.S. European Command Gen. Tod Wolters said Wednesday, according to NBC News.
WASHINGTON — The Afghan baby girl born on a C-17 military aircraft during an evacuation flight from Afghanistan will forever carry that experience with her. Her parents have named her after the plane’s call sign — Reach. https://t.co/q8BHopOCNy
— Lisa Mascaro (@LisaMascaro) August 25, 2021
The mother initially suffered from low blood pressure, so the aircraft commander descended in altitude to allow for more cabin pressure which helped “stabilize and save the mother’s life,” NBC News reported. (RELATED: Qatar Apologizes For Women Being Strip Searched, Physically Examined After Baby Found Under Trash In Airport Bathroom)
Members of the 86th Medical Group came aboard the plane after its landing in Germany and delivered the child in the cargo bay of the aircraft, according to NBC News. Reach and her mother were then safely transferred to a nearby medical facility.
Over the past week, two other babies were born at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the U.S. military hospital in Germany, to parents who had been evacuated from Afghanistan, according to the outlet.
The Pentagon confirmed Thursday morning that there was an explosion outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Children, Taliban guards and three U.S. service members are reportedly among those wounded. The death toll remains unclear.