This amazing video captures the moments after an en-caul birth.
In case you’ve ever wondered what it would look like if a baby was born inside its amniotic sac, we now have a video!
I’ll be honest, I was a little squemish when I first saw this thing. But it’s actually pretty incredible. You can see the newborn take its first breath on camera and move around inside the tiny enclosed space, responding to the doctor’s touch.
Pretty cool!
What is an amniotic sac, exactly? It’s a bag of clear, pale fluid inside the womb where the fetus develops and grows. The fluid helps to cushion the baby and provide it with fluids it can breathe and swallow. In most cases, the amniotic sac breaks on its own during birth, which is commonly referred to as a mother’s “water breaking.”
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But in this case, the sac is completely intact with the baby curled up inside, and it has to be gently pierced by the obstitrician with a pair of surgical scissors.
And yes, we get to see that, too.
“Hola,” the doctor says. We then watch as the tiny baby—is that a full head of hair?—emerges from the sac as the doctor peels it back, then gently clears the baby’s airways with his gloved finger. The tiny baby then lets out its first cry as the medical staff unwraps the umbilical cord from around its waist.
Just…wow!
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Not surprisingly, the amazing video has been watched more than 20 million times since it was uploaded by Facebook user Jasmie Perez just over a week ago.
Hollee Actman Becker is a freelance writer, blogger, and a mom. Check out her website holleeactmanbecker.com for more, and follow her on Twitter at @holleewoodworld.