RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Lavi Mounga was flying from Salt Lake City to Hawaii for a family vacation when she started to go into labor at just 29 weeks pregnant. Luckily, a doctor and three neonatal nurses happened to be on the same plane. They didn't have anything sharp, so they cut the umbilical cord with shoelaces and used a smartwatch to monitor the baby's heart rate. When the plane landed, the pair was rushed to the hospital. His mom is so grateful, and her baby boy, Raymond, is recovering in the NICU. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.