Our Nurse of the Week is Loretta Bledsoe, a critical care nurse from Longwood, FL who helped deliver a 2-pound, 4-ounce baby on her flight home to Orlando before the plane made an emergency landing in Charleston.
Bledsoe was an hour into her flight from Philadelphia when the flight attendant made an announcement about a medical emergency and asked if any doctors or nurses were on board. A nurse for more than 40 years with a range of experience from intensive-care to pediatrics, Bledsoe was well qualified to help deliver a baby. She turned on her call light to let the flight attendant know she could help and was brought to the front of the plane where a young woman was hunched over in a window seat.
The pregnant woman didn’t look very far along but said that her water had broken and minutes later Bledsoe was holding a tiny baby boy in her arms. Another passenger, an emergency-room doctor from Pennsylvania, helped stabilize the mother while the flight attendants and pilot planned for an emergency landing to get the new baby and his parents to a local hospital.
Surprisingly, the mom and dad had already added ‘Jet’ to their list of baby names and they decided it was the perfect fit after baby Jet was born mid-flight. Bledsoe later found out that the mom whose baby she had delivered was also a nurse. Talking about the events of that day, Bledsoe told OrlandoSentinel.com, “But you always use your nursing background, always. It’s like riding a bike: You never forget.”
Bledsoe has spoken to the mother a few times since about updates that the baby is doing much better. She hopes to meet the family again when they return home to Central Florida. To learn more about Bledsoe’s courageous mid-flight baby delivery, you can view her interview with OrlandoSentinel.com.
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