Afghanistan: Three Babies Born Aboard U.S. Planes During Evacuation

There wasn't just one but three babies born aboard the U.S. airplanes that evacuated people out of Afghanistan during a crucial humanitarian crisis after the Taliban took control of the Afghanistan government, according to U.S. Army Gen. Steve Lyons.

Lyons is the commander overseeing the evacuation of U.S. troops and refugees out of Afghanistan. While he appreciated that news agencies reported one birth in a flight that arrived in Ramstein in Germany from Kabul on Saturday, August 21, he said there were actually three babies as of Monday, August 23.

Secretary John Kirby later confirmed that all the babies and their moms are in a "fine and healthy" state at the Ramstein Air Base hospital. The secretary didn't know if the babies will automatically become American citizens. However, the State Department's policy cites those babies can't be considered U.S. citizens if they have been born aboard an American plane but outside U.S. airspace.

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First Baby Delivery 'In the Wild'

U.S. Army Capt. Erin Brymer, a registered nurse, has delivered many babies before, but on Saturday, they were notified at the airbase in Germany that one of the 36 planes arriving from Afghanistan had a mother in labor. When the plane touched down, and nurse Brymer's team got on the aircraft, the mother was already crowning. She was protected and covered by the rest of the female evacuees.

Brymer said that it was such a "beautiful sight to see" amid a delivery "in the wild." Her team could no longer transfer the pregnant mom to the hospital because her daughter was ready to come out.

The nurse told CNN that she made eye contact with the mother and assured her that everything would be okay. It took just 10 to 15 minutes for the baby's delivery, who came out screaming. Brymer was pleased with the outcome, and they immediately had the mother hold her baby so she could breastfeed.

Afghan Baby Reunites with Dad

Meanwhile, the Pentagon revealed that another Afghan baby in a viral video, showing that he was passed from one U.S. troop to the next at the Kabul airport fence, has been reunited with his father. Kirby said that the father passed his child to the U.S. troops because he needed medical attention. The secretary said that the baby had been treated and the family is now safe behind the military perimeter.

However, government officials warned soldiers that it's risky to encourage and allow parents to pass their children across the barbed wire fence. The soldiers said that the parents have been desperate, with some pleading to save their babies. They said it was an awful sight to witness, especially after some of the children got caught in the wires, leaving many of them in tears that harrowing night of the evacuation. 

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