By Josie Le Blond
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
BERLIN (Reuters) - German navy staff helped deliver a Somali migrant's baby hours after the mother was rescued from the Mediterranean sea, the German armed forces said on Tuesday.
Rahma, 33, from Mogadishu, gave birth to a baby girl, Sophia, on board the German rescue boat 'Schleswig Holstein' as it headed for the Italian coast. She was traveling alone at the end of a five-month journey, the Bundeswehr said.
Officers said Sophia, who weighed 3 kg (about 7 pounds) at birth, was doing well. She is thought to be the first baby ever born on a German naval vessel.
Her mother was one of 4,000 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean over the weekend. She was picked up first by the British navy before being transferred to the German vessel and taken to a hospital for checks after the ship docked in Taranto, southern Italy. The European Union is struggling to manage the tide of migrants fleeing war and poverty.
(Reporting by Josie Le Blond; Editing by Noah Barkin/Ruth Pitchford)