This Baby Was Born in His Amniotic Sac—How Is That Possible?
Dr. Pari was featured as a guest contributor in the article below, originally posted for Glamour by Korin Miller.
By now, you might have seen the incredible video circulating online of a baby boy being born in his amniotic sac. (If not, drop everything and look at it now—it’s insane.)
The video, which was uploaded to Facebook by Jasmine Perez, shows the baby being born fully encased in his amniotic sac, a condition known as “en caul.”
In the video, the baby moves around inside his sac after he was born. A doctor gently wipes the sac and then uses scissors to open it. Then, voila! The baby shoots out and starts crying.
It’s kind of amazing, and clearly has fascinated a lot of people—the video has been shared on Facebook more than 66,600 times. Check it out, below (warning: the video is pretty graphic):
asi como cuando dicen ” nacio ENMANTILLAO” bueno… asi!
Posted by Jasmine Perez on Tuesday, February 16, 2016
But…what is an en caul birth, exactly? While the amniotic sac usually breaks when a woman is in labor (also known as your water breaking), sometimes it stays intact, explains board-certified ob-gyn Katherine Pocius, M.D., medical director of family planning at Massachusetts General Hospital.
However, it’s pretty rare. “I’ve seen it once,” says Pocius.
And, while it looks unusual, board-certified ob-gyn Pari Ghodsi, M.D., who has also seen this before, says there’s nothing dangerous about it for the baby or mother. But, since the baby can’t live in there forever, it needs to be removed.
Another difference between en caul and “regular” births, per Pocius: Doctors can’t put any kind of internal fetal monitor on the baby during labor.
Worth noting: The amniotic sac is the baby’s home for nine months, so it’s a pretty cozy place for the newborn to be. The sac is filled with amniotic fluid, which helps protect the baby, strengthens his bones, and helps his lungs grow.
The doctor in the video used scissors to remove the sac, but Pocius says you can usually just gently peel it off. “It’s a very flimsy sac,” she says.
En caul births are considered good luck in some cultures and babies born this way are thought to have a lifelong affinity for water. So…congrats!