Woman delivers own baby in amniotic sac in her car - 11 weeks premature
The phenomenon occurs at just one in 80,000 births
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Your support makes all the difference.A woman has astounded the world not only by delivering her own baby 11 weeks early from the front seat of her car, but with the fact that he was born en caul, which means in the amniotic sac.
The amniotic sac is filled with fluid in which the unborn baby floats and moves - it helps to cushion the baby from bumps and injury, as well as providing them with fluids that they can breathe and swallow.
When a woman’s water breaks, it’s in fact the amniotic sac breaking and the fluid draining out through the vagina.
But this didn’t happen to Raelin Scurry.
At just 29 weeks pregnant, Scurry was not expecting to give birth on 5 August.
She thought she was having Braxton Hicks contractions (which usually occur midway through pregnancy) and wasn’t too worried, but after 45 minutes of increasingly intense contractions she decided to go to hospital to check everything was OK.
“The contractions continued to get closer together and more intense and before I knew it I knew it was time to push,” Scurry wrote on Instagram.
“I called 911 because I was so scared. They couldn’t understand me between the screams with contractions. So I handed the phone to my fiancé.
“I pulled my pants off and reached down, sure enough his head was right there. I pushed one time and my miracle baby was here. When I looked down I realised he was still completely wrapped in the amniotic sac.”
Scurry and her fiancé Ean thought they could make it to the hospital quicker than the emergency services would get to them, so they decided to keep driving, despite how scared they were.
“At first the baby was still and all I could do was pray he would be okay,” Scurry said. “And then I rubbed his face with my thumb and he pulled his little hands and feet up to his face as if he understood my prayers and wanted to reassure us he was okay.”
It took about seven minutes for the family to make it to the hospital, where staff came running out to the car park and opened the amniotic sac, helping the baby to breathe.
En caul births are incredibly rare, occurring at just one in 80,000 births - it’s more common in caesarean sections than vaginal births too.
Scurry’s baby boy weighed just 3lb 1oz but survived.
“He doing wonderful all things considered,” Scurry said. “I know he’s going to be an awesome little man! He is truly a miracle baby. We are so blessed to be his parents.”
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