@PregnantLife / InstagramThe incredible moment a baby was born, while still inside the mother’s amniotic sac, has gone viral after being posted to social media.
Doctors can be seen physically breaking the baby out of the protective bubble of membranes after they were successfully delivered in the operating room by C-section.
The footage, which you can watch below, went viral in Asia:
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Moments after the baby was delivered, the video shows how the youngster’s face could be seen through the amniotic sac, which normally protects the baby from movement during gestation, breaks and at the start of labor.
Viewers were amazed at the miraculous birth, the skill of the doctors present and bravery of the new mum.
The birth is particularly rare, with just one in every 80,000 babies born ‘en caul’, reports The Independent.
InstagramThe midwives and doctors delivering this special baby can be heard exclaiming throughout the short clip, which was filmed on the phone of a bystander in the dimly-lit operating theatre.
The occurrence is rare – few obstetricians have seen an en caul birth, as usually in c-section births, the scalpel breaks through the sac during the operation.
The amniotic sac is a robust bag of fluid which encases a fetus during pregnancy and protects the unborn baby.
InstagramIn more common – but still comparatively rare – cases, some babies are born ‘with the caul’ – in this instance, the amniotic sac is wrapped around the baby’s head, almost like a helmet.
Herein, doctors create an incision in the sac, to allow the baby to breathe, pulling the sac away from his or her face.
Medically, there’s no increased risk of damage or suffocation among en caul babies and the resistant membranes of the remaining amniotic sac are even thought to protect them from a lot of the trauma of childbirth.
Some superstitions state being born ‘en caul’ is even a sign of good luck, with an old wives’ tale leading those to believe en caul babies were clairvoyants.
It’s said, Roman midwives even sold cauls on the black market because lawyers believed it would give them good luck.
In August, a new mother shared her birthing story, after her baby was born ‘en caul’ in her car on the way to the hospital.
Raelin Scurry was 29 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to her ‘miracle baby’ in the backseat of her car, on the way to the hospital, after suffering what she thought were Braxton Hicks contractions.
After 45 minutes of intense pain, Scurry realised she was in fact in labor and nonetheless, managed to deliver the baby boy, who she named Ean Jamal, still enclosed in its amniotic sac, on her own.
He weighed 3lb 1oz, but survived the ordeal, prompting his mother to call him a ‘miracle baby’ and an ‘awesome little man’.
Raelin shared her story on Instagram, marvelling at the resilience and power of the human body – both the baby’s and the mother’s – in childbirth.
Ean Jamal is enjoying a healthy and happy first few months.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.