Basildon Hospital A&E doctor delivers baby girl mid-flight on way back to UK from Jordan

A doctor had to borrow towels from his fellow plane passengers as he delivered a baby tens of thousands of feet in the air.

Hassan Khan was two hours into his flight back to the Luton Airport from Amman in Jordan when a 38-year-old woman's waters broke.

The Wizz Air flight crew appealed for medical help over the public address system and were lucky to find they had seven doctors on board who had all been on a trip together.

As the only one of them with the right training to resuscitate a baby and having been involved in some deliveries in the past, Dr Khan, who works in A&E at Basildon Hospital in Essex, was chosen to lead the way and deliver the baby girl.

The doctor said the stress of the situation helped him to filter out distractions from the panicked passengers and crew around him.

"I was so fixated on managing the situation, I almost forgot we were on an aircraft," he said.

"It felt surreal to help deliver a baby safely with more than 200 unknown passengers and flight crew around."

Dr Khan drew on help from his fellow doctors and the flight crew, and even borrowed towels from passengers on board.

But he was without much of the vital equipment needed - including an oxygen mask suitable for a baby, a stethoscope or a clamp for the umbilical cord.

As he began to help, the doctor also discovered some added complications.

"At the time I found out [the mother] was only seven months pregnant, that's when there was a little bit of fleeting worry," he said.

"It's complicated enough to birth at 35,000ft in the air, not to mention the fact that the lady can't speak any English, and then I find out she's only seven months. That's a lot of complicating factors."

Luckily, a passenger was able to step in and serve as a translator.

"Part of me did think 'perhaps the baby's not going to come out while we're in the air, perhaps we can hold out until we land', but unfortunately the baby didn't want to wait," said Mr Khan.

Labour took just half an hour from when the doctors were alerted and, once the baby girl was delivered, the plane was diverted to Brindisi Airport in southern Italy so mum and baby could be taken to hospital.

Dr Khan, who had been due to start a night shift as soon as he got home, said he had spent around 10 to 15 minutes treating the baby, who was "slightly blue" at first, but happily handed over a healthy pink little girl.

Dr Khan said his advice to anyone who found themselves in a similar situation, without medical training, was: "Stay calm, use whatever resources are available, tap into the birthing experience of the mothers on board, and work together to help the birthing mum."

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