Philippines: Mom Gives Birth to Baby After Clinging to Post During Typhoon Haiyan

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 11, 2013   |   2:40PM   |   Manila, Philippines

The news out of the Philippines has been devastating — as the world learns of hundreds of confirmed deaths and hundreds more people injured or missing as a result of the devastating typhoon that hit the island nation.

Yet, while the Filipino people endured the devastation and destruction reports have surfaced of one positive story of a mother who desperately tried to save herself so she could give birth to a baby girl.

As the Associated Press reports, Emily Ortega, 21, gave birth in an improvised clinic at Tacloban airport today to a new born girl named Bea Joy. She did so after having to swim for her life and clinging to a post as the typhoon raged around her.

The whole time, her husband had no idea the life of his wife and daughter were in danger.

Cheers broke out Monday in the typhoon-devastated airport of the city of Tacloban in the Philippines when 21-year old Emily Ortega gave birth to a baby girl.

It was a rare piece of good news for the seaside city where officials fear at least 10,000 were killed, and where tens of thousands of residents saw their homes flattened by ferocious winds and a massive storm surge from Typhoon Haiyan.

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Bea Joy Sagales appeared in good health. Her birth drew applause from others in the airport and military medics who assisted in her delivery.
Her birth was near miraculous — her mother was in an evacuation centre when the storm surge hit and flooded the city. The mother had to swim and cling to a post to survive before she found safety at the airport. Her husband in Manila was unaware of what has happened.

The typhoon made landfall Friday, barreling through six central Philippine islands, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes with winds of 235 kilometres per hour and gusts of 275 kph.