A NEW mum has shared how she managed to give birth at 36,000ft with the help of four hero passengers who rushed to help her.

Kendria Rhoden, 21, was forced to give birth to her son Skylen at the back of a plane after her waters broke mid-air at 32 weeks.

And even though the baby was not due until the end of October, Skylen Kavon-Air Francis was born, weighing just 3lb 7oz.

The healthcare worker, from Hartford, Connecticut was on an American Airlines flight heading to the Dominican Republic for her mum's birthday alongside her sister Kendalee, 26.

New mum Kendria said: "I started feeling cramps at first, right at the beginning of the flight.

“These carried on and 34 minutes into the flight my waters broke.

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"The cabin crew were such a big help and they had to help deliver Skylen at the back of the plane.

"I just remember everyone filming us when we were coming off the plane and they were all saying congratulations to me."

Kendalee shared footage from the flight showcasing the unexpected arrival.

She said: "Throughout the flight my sister had been twisting and turning and unable to get comfortable, she was in the aisle seat whilst I had the window seat.

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"We switched so she could have the wall to lean on and hopefully get some rest, but it didn't help.

"When we were about half an hour away from landing my sister grabbed me and said her water had broken, I was shocked!

“I kept asking if she was sure until she stood up and the entire seat was drenched!

"I immediately alerted my family and pressed the panic button and the flight attendants rushed over to the scene.

“Once we'd established her waters had broken and she was about to go into labour, an announcement was made to the rest of the plane.

"The pilot was pleading for anyone with any medical experience to help, and thankfully there were four people who came to my sister's aid!

"She was taken to the back of the plane and after an extremely stressful 20 minutes, an announcement was made that we'd got a new passenger aboard, a beautiful baby boy named Skylen.

"We’d received the all-clear from Kendria’s doctors and the baby wasn't due for another month, so it was a shock to all of us.

“But what a miracle it was."

Skylen, who was named in reference to his unbelievable birth story, had to spend four days in the neonatal intensive care unit following his premature arrival.

Kendria was uncertain about what nationality her new son would be, so once he was released from NICU, they made a trip to the American embassy to clear the matter up.

It was confirmed Skylen is American, based on his mother's nationality.

Kendria added: "We weren't sure what nationality he was at first, so we had to make an emergency trip to the embassy.

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"When I went there, they told me he's an American citizen because of me, as I'm American too.

“So, from there we had to get him an emergency passport so that we could get him home!"

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