Local News

Actions

Baby born on cruise ship early flown to Utah

Posted at 10:19 AM, Nov 23, 2015
and last updated 2015-11-23 13:19:39-05

UPDATE NOV. 23: Baby Haiden Morgan has arrived in Utah after spending the past two months in a hospital in Miami after being born at sea.

He will be hospitalized in Ogden for several weeks. His parents hope to have him home by Christmas.

Haiden was greeted by his parents, Emily and Chase Morgan, and a crowd of well-wishers, according to the Associated Press. Many cheered and held up "welcome home" signs as medical staff took Haiden, who was in an incubator, off the aircraft.

The Morgans said it was surreal that their son was back with them.

"Even a week ago we weren't sure if we were all going to be together," Chase Morgan told the AP.

ORIGINAL STORY

A Utah woman gave birth on Sept. 1 nearly three months early and more than 100 miles out at sea.

Little Haiden Morgan was born on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship at just 23 weeks two days into his parents' trip in the eastern Caribbean, according to ABC News. The baby was born weighing just 1 1/2 pounds.

"I knew that this was the true labor pains and I was going to have this baby," said mom Emily Morgan.

Emily Morgan was on the cruise with her husband and 3-year-old daughter when she went into labor. Morgan told the Associated Press that the doctor approved the trip to celebrate her daughter’s third birthday.

The crew worked to keep the baby alive as the ship raced to shore. Crew members wrapped him in towels and heated saline packets, creating a makeshift incubator.

Haiden is still in the hospital but his family is hopeful he will be released by late December, his original due date.