Sometimes you hear stories about women who don't know they're pregnant until they give birth, but it's not often that you actually get to experience firsthand what happens when someone unexpectedly has a child. Recently, a whole flight full of people had a front-row seat to a birth that was a total surprise to everyone — even the mom.
Lavinia Mounga was flying from her home in Salt Lake City to Hawaii when she suddenly went into labor. To make things even more interesting, the experience was documented and shared on TikTok by Julia Hansen.
In the TikTok shared, you can hear a crew member announce the birth happened and also asking everyone on the plane to remain seated so the mom and baby can exit first. Julia explained that she was seated next to the woman's dad on the flight, who told her no one knew she was pregnant.
In her follow-up TikTok, Julia says, "To those wondering how she was able to fly in her third trimester, I sat next to her dad on the plane and he said they didn't even know she was pregnant."
A nurse from Kansas City named Lani Bamfield assisted with the birth and wrote about the experience on Facebook. "We delivered a 26-27 weeker in the airplane bathroom, in the middle of the ocean, with three NICU nurses, a Physicians assistant, and a family medicine doctor we were able to make it THREE HOURS before we could finally land but the baby and mom did great."
Both mom and baby, whom she reportedly named Raymond Kaimana Wade Kobe Lavaki Moung, were taken to Honolulu and are recovering. The baby's father, Ethan Magalei, also posted his own message on Facebook thanking everyone for their help.
He began by praising the mother of his child. "Life. It’s a crazy thing. It’s strange knowing that millions of people on the internet know about a birth that took place on a Delta flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Honolulu, HI. A birth I could not be there for but still blessed to see videos of. A birth that only Lavi could endure and go through.. only her. If you don’t have the opportunity to know Lavi, it is nothing short of a blessing."
He continued, "With baby being born, waiting 3 hours to land, and rushing to the hospital, the fact that our son is here is a miracle and nothing short of it. Only being able to make FaceTime calls and sending texts to see him for the moment being is hard but trying to stay grateful and blessed that he is even here on this earth in the first place. The birth came as a shock to us both as we had NO idea that she was pregnant."
"I tried reaching out to all those personally who helped Lavi and deliver baby safely here while on that flight and if I didn’t message you but you are somehow seeing this, thank you. Thank you doesn’t do justice of how grateful I am for God putting you all on that flight to be there for Lavi, her family, and our son. I have no words to express my gratitude besides thank you. I am forever grateful."
"Our lives have forever changed and things are going to be challenging but with faith and work it will all be beautiful. I want to thank all of those that have reached out to Lavi and her family during this time and have even gone out to see her and baby, you are appreciated and loved."
