A fascinating video shows a baby born inside his amniotic sac (or “caul birth”).
- Yesterday, the video shared on X and on Instagram of a baby born without his mother’s water having broken caused a buzz.
- This is a “caul birth”.
- It is estimated that approximately 1 in 80,000 births take place this way.
He is seen moving his legs energetically and turning around while calmly floating in a transparent pocket. Yesterday, the video shared on X and on Instagram of a baby born without his mother’s water breaking caused a buzz.
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Caul birth: when the amniotic sac does not rupture
Inside the uterus, the fetus is surrounded by thin walls called “amniotic sac”. Usually, the sac ruptures once labor has started and amniotic fluid leaks out: this is commonly called “loss of water”.
However, it happens that the amniotic sac does not break at all, which then gives rise to “a birth in caul”. This can happen intentionally during a cesarean section or, in the rarest cases, spontaneously during a vaginal birth (as happened in the video mentioned at the beginning of this article, Editor’s note). It is estimated that approximately 1 in 80,000 births take place this way.
“It was magical. Before we burst the sac, the baby was there, asleep without needing to breathe. He was receiving everything he needed through the umbilical cord. I had other deliveries in caul, but it was the first time the baby was breech. These births are rare”, told last year Leandra Campos, a Brazilian obstetrician-gynecologist who performed a caul delivery in October 2022. “The priority is to rupture the sac to allow the baby to breathe, because he no longer has any oxygen from his mother,” she also warned at the time.
Birth in caul: at what is amniotic fluid used for?
The amniotic fluid in which the baby bathes is essential for its growth and development. Among other things, it keeps the child at an adequate temperature, protects him against external shocks, allows him to move and thus develop his muscles or lungs.