Athaliah Reynolds, Staff Reporter

Shellesha Woodstock did not expect her baby to come so soon. In fact, she did not expect to give birth to her first child in mid-air on the floor of a Cayman Airways flight, assisted by two flight attendants in the presence of more than 200 eyewitnesses.

Ms. Woodstock's ordeal began on Monday when her water broke about 5:00 a.m. But, she was turned away from the hospital in Cayman where she had gone to have her baby.

At just 29 weeks pregnant, she told The Gleaner she was not only concerned, but frightened for the life of her unborn child.

"I was so scared because I didn't know what was happening. When I told the nurse the water broke I was admitted and examined," she told The Gleaner from her home in Jamaica, yesterday.

Told to go back to Jamaica

The domestic helper claimed that, after submitting her insurance card, she was told by a nurse (in Cayman) - in the presence of a doctor - that it would have been better if she had gone back to Jamaica to have her baby.

"The nurse said it was cheaper for me to have my baby in Jamaica and said I couldn't afford to have it in Cayman," she said, "I didn't have any conversation with the nurse about money because I have been planning to have my baby there for months."

Ms. Woodstock was then sent to the airport to catch the 1:00 p.m. Air Jamaica flight on Monday afternoon, but missed the plane. She spent Monday night in the emergency ward, where she was examined by a doctor and given two doses of a medication said to be for her baby's lungs.

On Tuesday morning, she and her partner, Laflin Clarke, returned to the airport where they caught the 6:45 a.m. Cayman Airways Flight to Jamaica.

But within 10-15 minutes of takeoff, the 19-year-old said she began to vomit.

"I started feeling pain and then I got dizzy and blacked out," she told The Gleaner.

Gave birth on floor

After summoning the assistance of the flight attendants, Ms. Woodstock was placed onto the floor at the front of the aircraft to lie down. Within five minutes she gave birth to her daughter, Latiesha Julene Clarke.

Ms. Woodstock, almost close to tears, told The Gleaner the experience was a nightmare.

"I feel so embarrassed, shocked and sad because I never expected to give birth to (my) baby on a plane," she said.

She said the doctor who examined her in The Cayman Islands told her all was well for her to travel.

"She gave me a letter to give to the airline and said everything was O.K. and that me and the baby would be fine," she said.

Baby Latiesha is now admitted at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, in Montego Bay, where she is doing well.

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com