Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Baby born on the Independence!

C-Hill

By C-Hill,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

C-Hill

C-Hill

Posted
Posted

I got off the Independence today and didn't see any notice of this on the threads.

 

Early Tuesday morning, September 1st, a baby boy was born on the Independence! We were docking at San Juan that afternoon & the captain announced, mid day, that we were moving at full speed for a "medical emergency". We arrived at 2pm, 2 hours early, & 3 ambulances came to the pier.

Mother & baby were loaded separately and then another (unrelated) emergency was also loaded in an ambulance at the pier.

 

The captain announced what had happened (to clapping and cheers) & then on Saturday, it was announced that mother & baby were doing well & had been transferred to a Florida hospital. The family was from Utah.

 

All's well that ends well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Langley Cruisers

Langley Cruisers

Posted
Posted (edited)
The captain announced what had happened (to clapping and cheers) & then on Saturday, it was announced that mother & baby were doing well & had been transferred to a Florida hospital. The family was from Utah.

 

Congratulations to the family, first of all. Secondly, I sincerely ask how a baby of 24 weeks or less gestation can be "doing well"? We know that Royal's policy does not permit passengers past 24 weeks. I guess I am a little confused.

Edited by Langley Cruisers
Link to comment
Share on other sites
rudeney "Live from...." Rare

rudeney

Posted
Posted (edited)

RCCL does not allow mothers to sail who are in or will be in their 24th week of pregnancy. Tat means this baby had to be at leas 12 week premature. That must have been pretty scary for the family!

Edited by rudeney
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruisinfanatic

cruisinfanatic

Posted
Posted
Congratulations to the family, first of all. Secondly, I sincerely ask how a baby of 24 weeks or less gestation can be "doing well"? We know that Royal's policy does not permit passengers past 24 weeks. I guess I am a little confused.

 

RCCL does not allow mothers to sail who are in or will be in their 24th week of pregnancy. Tat means this baby had to be at leas 12 week premature. That must have been pretty scary for the family!

Come on. You think that the mother let on she was pregnant? Not everyone that is looks it

Link to comment
Share on other sites
A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

Posted
Posted
The baby will get something special, like Pinnacle status the rest of their life . Or what ever,.

 

Is this a first for a cruise line?

 

I hope they don't get the bill for the extra fuel burned to get them to port quicker. No one ever said having kids would save you money. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BND

BND

Posted
Posted (edited)
is that a US rule? born in the US=US citizen?

I thought is it the norm that the baby follows citizenship of the parents?

 

Sendt fra min GT-I9295 med Tapatalk

 

If one of the parents is a US citizen, then the baby would have US citizenship (or the citizenship of the other, or both depending on what is chosen or the laws of the other country, etc). Otherwise, more than likely the baby would have the citizenship of the parents. Plenty of people are born to parents with two different citizenship's and then they can have both. For example, my daughter in laws mother was a UK citizen when DIL was born in the US and her father was a US citizen and DIL has both US and UK passports and dual citizenship. DIL's mother is now a US citizen also through naturalization.

 

But, yes a baby born in the US is a US citizen, regardless of the parents citizenship, unless the parents choose otherwise.

 

I highly doubt the baby was 24 weeks gestation, probably more like 30+ and the mom either lied or wasn't sure. And, yes, it's possible mom didn't know exactly how pregnant she was if she wasn't getting regular medical care. My guess is mom was more than 30 weeks and knew it, but took a risk, just like many do when they take a babymoon. I know more than one baby born at 7-8 months gestation out of state while parents were on that babymoon.

 

It does sound like the baby was somewhat premature if they were both transferred to a FL hospital instead of just being released. But, I also don't think it's likely they would move a severely premature baby that quickly.

Edited by BND
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Trekker954

Trekker954

Posted
Posted

Is this a first for a cruise line?

 

Maybe and maybe not.

 

In 2013 a woman gave birth on the Carnival Dream an Indiana woman gave birth on board, wrapped the baby up and shoved it under the bed, got off the ship and flew home. She was found guilty of manslaughter (the baby had been born alive).

 

In January 2015 a woman was airlifted off Carnival Breeze when she went into labor, so technically the baby wasn't born at sea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BlueRiband

BlueRiband

Posted
Posted (edited)
The baby will get something special, like Pinnacle status the rest of their life...

 

I wouldn't grant it to them. The mother was probably not entirely honest about how far along she was. She took a dangerous risk because ships are not equipped to deal with obstetrical emergencies nor do they have NICU facilities. There was a recent thread about similar thing happened on a Celebrity ship in the Med here:http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2247043&highlight=what+a+way+to+end What a tragedy this could have been had the ship been too far out to sea for even medevac.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if some lifeboat chasing lawyer will file a lawsuit in their behalf with the claim that the checkin staff should not have "allowed" her on board. This is America where nobody has to be accountable for their actions. :mad:

Edited by BlueRiband
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Trekker954

Trekker954

Posted
Posted
is that a US rule? born in the US=US citizen?

I thought is it the norm that the baby follows citizenship of the parents?

 

Sendt fra min GT-I9295 med Tapatalk

 

I believe you are correct for an "At Sea" birth. The baby will follow the citizenship of the parents.

 

The US rule, aka anchor baby is for a birth on US soil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
C-Hill

C-Hill

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I believe you are correct for an "At Sea" birth. The baby will follow the citizenship of the parents.

 

The US rule, aka anchor baby is for a birth on US soil.

 

 

Yes, the captain announced that the place of birth would be "at sea" (pretty cool story) and citizenship follows that of the parents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
C-Hill

C-Hill

Posted
  • Author
Posted
We saw the family in the elevator. My wife made the comment that she looked a little too pregnant to be on a cruise. Glad all worked out for them.

 

I agree with you, I saw the mom wheeled out on the stretcher & she still looked "very" pregnant post delivery. I'm a neonatal nurse, that baby was not a 24 weeker!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

Posted
Posted
Congratulations to the family, first of all. Secondly, I sincerely ask how a baby of 24 weeks or less gestation can be "doing well"? We know that Royal's policy does not permit passengers past 24 weeks. I guess I am a little confused.

 

Pure speculation, the date of conception/delivery isn't exact. Perhaps she was really much further along than she knew and 28 weeks is way premature, but can be "doing" well under the circumstances.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...