An Afghan woman gave birth to a girl in a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter en route to an Army hospital, U.S. Central Command says.

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The 40-year old woman, a resident of Shkin and wife of a town elder, had been in labor for 18 hours when the village midwife notified a U.S. medical sergeant of the woman's deteriorating condition, Central Command said in a press release.

The sergeant requested a helicopter from the nearby U.S. base "Salerno" near Khowst. The woman gave birth in the air on the return trip Saturday. Medical technician Spc. Kyle Storbakken, 25, of Mukilteo, Wash., cut the umbilical cord. Dr. (Lt. Col.) David Barber, commander of the 249th General Hospital medical detachment at Salerno, delivered the baby.

Mother and daughter are in good condition and are resting at a field hospital at Bagram air base north of Kabul, Central Command said.