A PREGNANT airport worker astonished herself as well as passengers by having a new arrival in the departure lounge.
The unnamed woman, who did not even realise she was pregnant, took ill at Edinburgh Airport on Monday night.
She went to a departure lounge toilet where worried colleagues who went to check on her found she was in the early stages of labour.
The baby was born in the toilet cubicle and both the mother and 8lb newborn are doing well and recovering in hospital.
An airport source said: “The girl was complaining to a colleague that she was not feeling well and went to the toilet.
“When she didn’t come back after sometime someone went to see if she was okay.
“From what I understand the baby was already born or the mother was well into the process by the time the baby arrived.”
The baby was born in a toilet near Gate 12 of the airport – just a few metres from a busy bar.
At the time there were also hundreds of travellers waiting to board flights.
One visitor to Edinburgh Airport revealed the birth on Twitter.
The user – known as MAndeh – wrote: “Some unlucky women just had her baby in a cubicle in Edinburgh airport’s airside toilets.
“Wonder if she’ll get charged for excess bags?”
An Edinburgh Airport spokesman said: “We can confirm that a baby was born in the airport yesterday evening.
“The lady in question is an employee of Restaurant Associates – the company which operates the British Airways Lounge kitchen.
“Mother and baby are now in hospital and all at Edinburgh Airport send their very best wishes.”
A GP who specialises in sexual health at a pregnancy clinic said it is not uncommon for women to be unaware they are pregnant.
She said: “It’s common among young girls especially those who have had little or no sexual education – in these cases they genuinely might not know.
“Often we deal with people who seem to be in an extreme case of denial – they have shut out the fact they are pregnant and this can be for a wide variety of reasons.
“What we do find is some women just don’t show. If they haven’t had morning sickness or sore breasts – some of the classic tell-tale signs – then it’s possible they are oblivious.”
A similar unknown pregnancy was reported when Lance Bombardier Lynette Pearce gave birth while on duty in Afghanistan in September last year.
The 28-year-old gave birth to a boy five weeks premature and insisted she had no idea she was pregnant.
