Dale Glenn, Amanda Beeding, Mimi Ho, Lani Bamfield.Photo: Hawaii Pacific Health
When three NICU nurses escaped to Hawaii together for a birthday getaway, they never expected to have to leap into work mode — especially not 40,000 feet into the air.
But that’s exactly what happened aftera passenger on their flight gave birth, and thanks to their help and that of a doctor on board, the group has formed what they hope will be a long-lasting friendship with their patient and her newborn son.
“We’re going to start a group chat soon,” nurse Mimi Ho, 28, tells PEOPLE. “We already told her that we’re going to come to his first birthday in Utah.”
It was Ho’s birthday that found her on the fateful April 28 flight in the first place — she and her North Kansas City Hospital coworkers Amanda Beeding, 45, and Lani Bamfield, 26, were taking a girls' trip to Hawaii together to celebrate.
Ho and Bamfield were seated next to each other on the Delta flight from Salt Lake City with Beeding in front of them when they first heard Lavinia “Lavi” Mounga’s sister-in-law calling for help.
Lavinia “Lavi” Mounga with Lani Bamfield, Mimi Ho and Amanda Beeding.Hawaii Pacific Health
With help from Dr. Dale Glenn, a family medicine physician at Hawaii Pacific Health who was flying home after visiting family, the group jumped into action, improvising on the fly to help Mounga and her newborn son Raymond, who was born at just 29 weeks.
Lavi Mounga and Dr. Dale Glenn.Hawaii Pacific Health
Beeding, who has more than 20 years' experience up her sleeve, says the all-hands-on-deck attitude was second nature.
“The adrenaline kicks in and the nerves go away and you just kind of go into work mode and then you decompress later,” she says.
Thanks to the group’s tireless work for the three hours it took to make an emergency landing in Hawaii, little Raymond made it through, and is currently recovering in a local hospital, where mom has been keeping a watchful eye.
As she waits for her son to become strong enough to fly back home to Orem, Utah, Mounga has welcomed Beeding, Bamfield, Ho and Glenn at the hospital for emotional, tear-filled visits, where the group says they’ve all formed a tight bond.
Hawaii Pacific Health
“She’s like my family pretty much,” says Ho. “I bother her every day. She also updates me every morning just to let me know that they’re doing okay. We’re emotionally invested in her and Raymond and their family, and it’s hard not to be so nosy about how they’re doing.”
As for how they’re doing, Glenn says that he visited Mounga, who did not know she was pregnant when she gave birth, on Thursday, and that she’s “doing great” — especially now that Raymond’s father has been clued in.
“She was saying, ‘How am I going to explain this? How do I call him and say no, no, I’m not pregnant, at least not anymore?'” says Glenn. “She was a little bit nervous about it, but it all went well and her family was there to support her.”
Lavinia “Lavi” Mounga and Dr. Dale Glenn.Hawaii Pacific Health
RELATED VIDEO: Woman Who Was Unaware of Pregnancy Gives Birth on Flight with Help From Nurses, Doctor
If there’s one lesson to be learned from the headline-grabbing ordeal, it’s this: make sure you choose your travel buddies wisely.
“I will tell you, next time they take a girls trip, I want to know about it,” Glenn jokes, “because I’ll feel much safer.”
source: people.com
