Manila : A Filipina migrant worker from Dubai gave birth aboard a Singapore Airlines flight to Manila and it remains unclear what nationality the child will be taking.
World | Philippines
Nationality debate over mid-flight childbirth
- By Gilbert P. Felongco, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 March 21, 2010
Factory worker Mylene Molina boarded the flight on March 12 despite being eight months pregnant, a television report in Filipino by GMA News said. She felt labour contractions mid-flight and a doctor aboard assisted in the child's birth. The mother and child were offloaded in Singapore.
Molina has named the child "SQ" after the airline's designation code.
After several days at a hospital in Singapore, Molina and her child were allowed to fly to Manila.
Rita Dy, marketing and communication manager of Singapore Airlines in Manila, was quoted as saying that Molina had hidden the fact that she was already 32 to 36 months pregnant when she boarded the flight from Dubai. Like most other airlines, the Singaporean flag carrier has strict rules about allowing on board women in advanced stages of pregnancy.
In the GMA interview, Molina said she never thought that she would give birth that soon. "I thought everything was normal and three weeks before, my friends and I were even walking around and I was even reporting to work," she said. It is yet unclear what naturalised nationality "SQ" will be taking.
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