SWANTON, Md. — A Maryland State Police aviation team flew a mother and her premature newborn child to safety from a remote area in Western Maryland in challenging weather.
State Troopers said the infant was was born 10 weeks early on the side of the road, near Backbone Mountain by Garrett County Emergency Medical Services shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The mother was making her way to to the hospital nearly 40 miles away when she suffered complications and went into labor. That's when an off-duty UPMC Western Maryland Regional Medical Center staff member help with the delivery.
Local EMS and fire crew, who also responded to the scene, requested help from the MSP helicopter unit after noticing the child's deteriorating medical condition.
The department said the infant's condition led the aviation team to fly the newborn to J. W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia.
In challenging weather, the crew was able to successfully fly the mother and her child to the medical center.
