Life-saving flight: 13-year-old mother’s baby delivered mid-air by helidrive doctors

Sikhumbuzo Moyo

HELIDRIVE National Air Rescue Service doctors have achieved a remarkable feat by delivering a healthy baby boy mid-air from a 13-year-old mother, who was airlifted from Maphisa Hospital in Matabeleland South province to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).

The delicate but precise procedure started seven minutes after the helicopter took off en route to Bulawayo after the patient (name withheld) started experiencing pains of increasing intensity and frequency, according to the delivery doctor, Marshall Kahari.

“She was having contractions at 1-minute intervals, each lasting for about two minutes. The patient was stable and all vitals were within normal range. The patient was being monitored closely. It was after another strong contraction that we saw the patient touching something between her thighs and we realised something had come out. Upon examining the patient, I saw that the baby’s right leg was out. It was a footling breech. Immediately, I knew the baby had to be delivered,” said Dr Kahari.

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