Woman gives birth in airplane toilet - then leaves the baby aboard

A woman has given birth to her baby in a toilet on an airplane - and then left the child behind in the rubbish bin when she disembarked.The Samoan woman gave birth in one of the plane's toilets during the Pacific Blue flight to Auckland on thursday, New Zealand media reported. It is believed the infant was found by an airline worker in the toilet rubbish bin more than an hour after the plane landed.Authorities only discovered something was wrong after the mother approached them saying she had misplaced her passport. They noticed she was pale and blood-stained.Pacific Blue crew are mystified at how the birth took place unnoticed, the Chief Officer's Network reported.The flight is only three and a half hours long - meaning that for a passenger to go missing for a long time could reasonably be expected to be noticed.Both mother and child are now recovering in hospital in New Zealand.

It is unclear whether the woman tried to return to the plane to reclaim her baby. Police and the airline are keeping a tight lid on their investigation.But police are investigating whether the mother, who is unnamed, abandoned her newborn child - and there could be criminal charges pending.

'Police are currently investigating the mother's actions... A likelihood of this investigation is a criminal prosecution,' a statement said.Pacific Blue said the woman's visa form was being examined to see how she boarded the plane at such an advanced stage of her pregnancy.The airline states that passengers who are more than 36 weeks pregnant must have medical clearance to fly. Gates-Bowey said 'the mother and baby are both well and at (a maternity ward in) Middlemore Hospital and back together.

'The Pacific Blue airline said in a statement yesterday: 'A female guest gave birth on board our flight DJ94 from (the Samoan capital) Apia to Auckland this morning.''We are relieved to have been informed that both mother and child are reunited, are well and are now being looked after in hospital,' the statement added.News agency New Zealand Press Association quoted an unnamed Auckland Airport staffer saying it was not known if other passengers and crew on the Pacific Blue flight from Samoa noticed the woman was in labour.It quoted the airport staff member saying that 'the baby was found on the aircraft' after landing.