NORFOLK, Va.---The Navy says a sailor who never reported being pregnant has given birth to a baby girl aboard an aircraft carrier at sea.
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban told the Virginian-Pilot the 7-pound (3.1-kilogram) infant was recently born on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf. Both mother and daughter are doing well and were airlifted to a shore-based hospital.
Urban says the command chain wasn’t aware of the pregnancy. The Navy requires expectant mothers to self-report a pregnancy within two weeks of a doctor’s confirmation. Expectant mothers are allowed to remain on ship up to the 20th week of pregnancy.
It wasn’t clear Monday whether the sailor, who had complained of abdominal pains before giving birth, knew she was pregnant.
“Both the mother and the baby are healthy and are doing well,” 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban told the Navy Times.
“As the baby was born at sea aboard an operational unit, the main focus for the U.S. Navy, the ship and its crew is the safety and well-being of the baby and the mother,” Urban added in an email to the publication.
He added: “While it would have been preferred to send her to her homeport earlier, per policy, we are now focused on caring for the health and welfare of our Sailor and the newest member of our Navy family,” Fox News reported.
Epoch Times contributed to this report.
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