A British doctor and staff from Jestar Pacific Airlines yesterday dropped by the Danang Paediatrics and Obstetrics Hospital to visit the woman who gave birth during a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang on March 4.

The woman, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nga, 26, who cannot speak English, cried when hugging British doctor Fiona Sutton to express her gratitude for her help.

Dr Sutton said that she was on a visit to Hoi An Town with her family so she decided to visit the mother and son following an invitation from the airline.

"This is the first time I've been in such situation," she said. So it’s been a very memorable trip for me."

Joining the visit with Dr Sutton, Tran Thi Hue, chief stewardess of flight No.BL590 said that this was also the first time she saw a passenger giving birth during a flight in over 23 years of working as a stewardess.

"The baby was only 30 weeks so I was very worried," Hue said. "We were very lucky to have Dr Sutton there to help."

Budget airline Jetstar Pacific announced that a pregnant passenger went into labour 45 minutes after flight BL590 took off from HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport on its way to Danang International Airport. A boy, weighing 2.7kg was born safely with the help from the foreign doctor. The boy and his mother were then taken to Danang Paediatrics and Obstetrics Hospital as soon as the aircraft landed.

The baby boy was nicknamed Jetstar in memory of the flight. The airline have decided to provide the boy with free tickets until he is 20 years old.

This is the second time that a baby has been born on a Jetstar Pacific flight.

In 2011, an airhostess helped a woman give birth while on a flight from HCM City to Vinh City.