A Woman Gives Birth on a Migrant Boat in the Middle of the Ocean

lanzarote, canary islands, spain - A woman gave birth to a baby girl on a crowded migrant boat en route from Africa to the Canary Islands, and both the mother and the baby were taken to safety in Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote.

A woman on a migrant boat heading towards the Canary Islands from Africa gave birth to a baby girl. The Spanish maritime search and rescue team, Salvamento Maritimo, stated that when they reached the inflatable boat off the coast of Lanzarote on Monday, January 6, they found 60 people on board, including 14 women and 4 children, and that a baby girl had been born 15 minutes prior.

The mother and the baby, who was born during the perilous journey, were transported by helicopter to Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote.

Captain Domingo Trujillo of the rescue ship said in an interview with the Spanish media, "The baby was crying, we understood she was alive, and we asked the mother for permission to take her and clean her. The umbilical cord had already been cut by one of the other passengers in the boat."

There has been a rising influx of irregular migrants to the Spanish islands off the coast of northwest Africa. Last year, the number of arrivals to the Canary Islands via the Atlantic route reached 46,843, surpassing the 2023 figure of 39,910. According to the latest report by the civil society organization Caminando Fronteras, between January 1 and December 5, 2024, at least 10,457 people lost their lives or went missing while trying to reach Spain by sea.