Migrant gives birth on Turkish coast guard boat in Aegean

İZMİR

A migrant who was caught while trying to cross illegally from Turkey to Greece by sea has given birth on the Turkish coast guard boat, Demirören News Agency has reported.

The migrant was one of the 40 irregular Afghan migrants who were aiming to reach the Greek island of Lesbos when their boat was stopped by the Turkish coast guard teams off İzmir’s Dikili district at 7.40 a.m. on Oct. 26.

As the migrants, including 11 men, nine women, and 20 children, boarded the Turkish coast guard boat, one of the women started to show signs of labor pain.

The coast guard teams hurried the boat toward the Dikili port to rush the woman to the hospital, but before making it to the land, the woman delivered her baby on the boat.

An ambulance waiting at the Dikili port dispatched the mother and the new born, named “Zehra,” to the nearest hospital.

The mother and the new born were reported to be in good health.