Rescued Nigerian Mediterranean Migrant Welcomes Baby Girl On Italian Navy Ship

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A baby girl was born by a Nigerian mum on board an Italian navy ship, the Bettica after she was rescued from a boat floating off the coast of Libya on Monday.

The Italian navy, which released a photograph of the tiny girl swaddled in a white cloth, said both she and her mother were in good health.

Vincenzo Pascale, the captain of the Italian navy ship on which the baby was born, said: “She is a beautiful baby girl who has touched everyone on board. The mother started to have contractions as soon as she was brought aboard and gave birth after eight hours. We made a little crib and put it next to the mother, who was worn out by the labour,” he told Italian media.

The baby was delivered by Sara Modde, a doctor with the Order of Malta, a Catholic charity that has teams of medics on board many of the search and rescue vessels operating in the Mediterranean.

In total, the Bettica rescued 654 migrants from four different boats, all of them sent from the coast of Libya by smuggling gangs, who are making tens of millions of pounds from trafficking desperate people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

The large number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean was attributed to warm weather and calm seas, with Italy expecting up to 200,000 to arrive by the end of the year.

Source: Telegraph UK