A baby girl born after her mother went into labour on a US bound flight that was diverted to Dublin is in “good health”.
Zoe Ireland Drake weighed just 850 grams when she was born at 25 weeks on Saturday.
Her mother, Jennifer, was on an American Airlines flight from Paris to North Carolina which had to be diverted to Dublin Airport after Mrs Drake went into premature labour.
A statement issued on behalf of the Drake family by the Rotunda Hospital on Friday said they appreciated “the fantastic response and support we have received from everyone”.
“We’ve been overwhelmed at all of the good wishes for ourselves, and particularly, Zoe, from our family members and friends,” the statement continues.
“We also want to acknowledge the heart-warming response we’ve received from the wider public here in Ireland, in the UK and at home in the US who have been very generous in supporting a fund set up by a family friend.”
Mrs Drake, an optometrist and her optician husband, Gavin, were returning home to Nashville to see their three-year-old son after enjoying a “babymoon” break in Paris.
She on Thursday said her fear was that if the baby was born on the plane she “wouldn’t make it because she was so young and her lungs were not properly developed”.
“I just kept thinking ‘please let me make it to the hospital’ because every minute counts without oxygen,” she said. “And we did - four minutes after I got to the hospital, Zoe was born.”
An ambulance was waiting to take Mrs Drake to Dublin’s Rotunda maternity hospital as soon as the plane touched down.
Baby Zoe is expected to remain in intensive care at the Rotunda hospital for the next few months but is said to be thriving.
“The doctors said she was big for 25 weeks, but she looks tiny to me,” Mrs Drake added.
(Additional reporting PA)