Premature Baby Born on Cruise Ship in August Now Likely to Survive

The baby named Haiden has spent the past two months in a Miami hospital after his premature birth on a cruise ship. He was arrived his native Utah on Saturday night after a flight that included medical equipment to ensure his safety and was welcomed by his parents, Emily and Chase Morgan, as well as a crowd of well-wishers who cheered and held up ‘welcome home’ signs as medical staff brought him out of an incubator in the aircraft.

His dad, Chase, who was overwhelmed with excitement, said: “Even a week ago we weren’t sure if we were all going to be together.”

According to Daily News, the couple was on a seven-day cruise around the eastern Caribbean on Aug. 31 when Emily started experiencing contractions. Her doctor had approved the trip because the baby was not due until Dec. 19.

They initially thought it might be false labor but called onboard medical staff when they saw blood. A doctor aboard the Royal Caribbean ship told her she couldn’t give birth because they were still 14 hours from the nearest port in Puerto Rico. However, she couldn’t hold back.

After the delivery, the doctors brought the 1 ½-pound baby, wrapped in towels wet from the birth, and said he wasn’t expected to live long.

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Upon arrival in Puerto Rico, the family, which includes the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, was whisked away to a hospital. Haiden was transferred to a children’s hospital in Miami a few days later.

Haiden from was transported from Miami to Ogden free of charge by operators of the University of Utah’s Flight Med program. He is expected to be hospitalized in Ogden for the next several weeks and the family hopes he will be home in time for Christmas.