Tri-Service
Sailor Gives Birth Aboard Aircraft Carrier
A sailor has given birth aboard aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, as the vessel operates in the Persian Gulf.
Commander Bill Urban, spokesman for the US Navy's 5th Fleet, told Forces TV that the sailor had complained of abdominal pain.
After being admitted to the ship’s medical bay, she gave birth to a 7-pound girl. It's not yet clear whether the sailor, who didn't report that she was pregnant to the ship's chain of command, knew she was pregnant beforehand. Urban said:
"As the baby was born at sea aboard an operational unit, the main focus for the US Navy, the ship and its crew is the safety and well-being of the baby and the mother. The baby and mother have arrived in Bahrain via helicopter with a medical escort and have been taken to a shore-based hospital for follow-on care."
He added that the mother and daughter are healthy and doing well, with US newspaper the Virginian-Pilot reporting that nappies, formula and an incubator were flown to the carrier on the day of the birth, with the incubator used to support the helicopter medical evacuation to shore.
According to US Navy regulations, health examinations must be undertaken every year, and expectant mothers are obliged to report pregnancy within two weeks of it being confirmed by a medical care provider
Urban said the sailor, whose name has not been released, is assigned to a squadron in Carrier Air Wing Three.
Aircraft from the air wing have been flying combat missions over Syria and Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the military intervention against the so-called Islamic State, after the Eisenhower departed from the East Coast of the US in June.
Forces TV was granted exclusive access to the carrier last month, with our reporter Simon Newton the first British journalist to visit the ship since it began conducting airstrikes.
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