Medical student gives birth on board Etihad flight

Aminath Raushan Khaleel, 24, was en route to Minsk with her husband where the two had to report for their new medical college before October 30 when she went into labour

• Raushan and her son (pictured) are doing well at Royal Hospital in Muscat.
• Image Credit: Sunil K. Vaidya/Gulf News

Muscat: A baby boy born to a Maldivian medical student on board Etihad before the diverted Trivandrum-Abu Dhabi flight could land at the Muscat International Airport is healthy and doing well with his mother.
When Gulf News correspondence visited the young Maldivian family at the Royal Hospital Sunday during visiting hours, the boy slept blissfully even as his young parents worried about next course of action, including how to inform their parents in Male.

Aminath Raushan Khaleel, 24, was travelling to Minsk with her husband where the two had to report for their new medical college before October 30. “My wife was due next month around 20th and we had to report before October 30 to complete our transfer from a Russian medical college to the college in Minsk, Belarus,” Aminath’s husband, who reluctantly gave his name as Abdullah Shahid, told Gulf News.
The two agreed to talk to Gulf News after much thought as they were worried about their parents reading about the incident before they could inform them.

“We had no choice but take flight so that we can report on time for our studies in medicine,” he said, adding that now they must complete all the formalities to reach Minsk on time.
The young couple is in complete dark how to go about the matter as both are busy at the Royal Hospital tending to their new-born son.
“We haven’t named him,” Aminath said. When suggested that why not give him a name that would remind them of from Oman, she asked what does Sultan means?
The two took flight from Trivandrum to Abu Dhabi where they were to take connecting flight to Minsk in Belarus.
But Aminath went into labour midair.
Once being told of her condition on board the flight, the pilot immediately diverted the plane to Muscat. However Aminath delivered a healthy baby boy 20 minutes before the flight landed.
Medical staff and an ambulance were ready to assist the mother and the newborn baby upon their arrival at Muscat, who along with the baby's father and Etihad crew members, were all assisted and transferred to the Royal Hospital.
“There was a trained nurse on board as a passenger and she helped in delivering the boy,” Aminath’s husband told Gulf News from the bedside of his wife and newly born baby boy.
He also praised the Etihad crew as well as ground staff at the Muscat International Airport. “They put us at ease and made everything smooth, including a top class hospital and medical facilities.”

from Gulfnews 

Related article
http://blogs.nlb.gov.sg/ask/adults/860

http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/23/135725/17/travel/Baby+Born+On+Air+Asia+Plane+Gets+Free+Flights+For+Life

Maldives Scuba Diving

If you love the sea and scuba diving, then why not charter a live aboard scuba diving cruise with your diving buddies. Collectively, you can save much more money and time if you live a board a diving cruise ship and go island hopping, scuba diving and fishing for the next ten days of your vacation. That is because you can do away with your hotel accommodation, save traveling time and can go to a lot more dive spots. Where to go for a cruise diving vacation? Try going to the Island nation of Maldives.

Although there are many world class spas, hotels and resorts in Maldives such as the Banyan Tree Spa resort, you have no need to stay in them unless you wanted to. Well, if you want to stay in a luxurious resort, it can be an excuse for you to travel to the Maldives again to enjoy these spa resorts. This is because, once you have scuba dived in Maldives, you will want to go back there again. Maldives is a scuba diver's paradise.

The atolls of Maldives were formed when millions of years ago, a great range of volcanoes rose from the floor of the Indian Ocean. As time passes, the volcanoes sunk back into the Indian Ocean leaving behind the coral reefs on the Maldivian atolls and islands we see today. That is why Maldives is best known for its white sandy beaches and crystal blue lagoons teeming with marine life.

The country have no big land mass, but instead is made up of about 1200 coral islands with a total area of 104,00.00 sq kilo 99% of which is the sea. Of these islands, only slightly more than 200 of them are inhabited. Most of the islands are not higher than six feet(about 2 meters) above sea level and scientists have warned that they are very susceptible to global warming and may one day, disappear into the ocean. There are already signs that this is happening.

Needless to say, the mainstay of the Maldivian economy is powered by the fishing and tourism industries. About 500,000 tourists arrive on these islands annually. The capital of Maldives is Male (pronounced as Ma-leh). Upon touching down at the airport, you willbe whisked away by a fishing boat because the capital is no larger than a few football fields and have one of the most dense population in the world.

Maldives has been an independent sovereign country except for a brief occupation by the Portuguese. It then became a British Protectorate in the mid-fifties and gained full independence in 965. It has been an Islamic country for more than 800 years.
During the Ming Dynasty, Chinese sailors called Maldives the "submerged mountain chain" wrote commentaries about these islands.

If you enjoy vacations in tranquil tropical islands or simply love fishing and diving, then Maldives will be a great holiday destination for you. Oh, I forgot to mention, if you are a seafood lover, I think there are no other places on Earth where you can get such a wide smorgasbord delicious mouth watering seafood, except in Maldives.