doctor has recorded the moment he delivered a baby inside an intact amniotic sac.
Obstetrician Dr Aris Tsigris published the photo of the newborn on his Facebook page after delivering the baby via caesarean section in Amarousion, north of Athens.
Because the sac had not been punctured, Dr Tsigris said the baby did not even realise it had been born and behaved as if it was still inside the mother’s womb.
A glimpse into the womb: This astonishing photograph, taken by obstetrician Dr Aris Tsigris, shows the baby who was delivered inside an intact amniotic sac. Until the sac is punctured the baby will behave as if it is still inside its mother
The amniotic sac is a bag of fluid inside the womb where the unborn baby develops and grows. It is also referred to as the ‘membranes’, because the sac is made of two membranes called the amnion and the chorion.
The sac is filled with clear, pale fluid, in which the unborn baby floats and moves.
The fluid helps to cushion the baby from bumps and injury, as well as providing them with fluids that they can breathe and swallow. The fluid also maintains a constant temperature for the baby.
The amniotic sac starts to form and fill with fluid within days of a woman conceiving.
Amniotic fluid is mainly water but from about week 10 onwards, the baby passes small amounts of urine into the fluid.
An amniotic sac develops just days after a woman conceives (pictured 40 days into pregnancy). It is filled with fluid which cushions the baby from bumps and nourishes it
The amount of amniotic fluid increases gradually during pregnancy until about week 38, when it reduces slightly until the baby is born.
Jessica Alba’s daughter Haven was born inside the amniotic sac in 2011
Typically the amniotic sac breaks on its own during birth, which is commonly referred to as a mother’s ‘water breaking’.
Dr Tsigris that the chance of the amniotic sac remaining completely intact after birth was ‘ultra rare’ and he was left ‘breathless’ by the sight of the newborn born on March 12, according to a report by Nine News.
The doctor said there was no risk to the baby as it was still feeding off the placenta and would begin to breathe as soon as the sac was broken.
The photo has since been shared more than 8000 times.
Actress Jessica Alba has spoken out about her daughter Haven who was born inside the amniotic sac in 2011.
She said at the time: ‘The doctor had never seen anything like it before. He grabbed the nurse and said: “Look at this!”.
‘I was in the middle of pushing and he told me to hold on a minute and not to push.
‘He was wearing basketball shorts and a T-shirt and said: ‘Oh I have to get my scrubs on for this!’ The sac burst on its own after she came out. It was a trip.’
In fact Jessica’s experience inspired Haven’s name.
She explained: ‘When I was in recovery we still hadn’t chosen her name. [Her father Cash Warren] picked her up and said she came into the world in her ‘safe haven’ and [her name] clicked right then for both of us.’
THE AMNIOTIC SAC: A MYSTERIOUS MEMBRANE
Being born ‘with the caul’ occurs when a child is delivered with a portion of amniotic membrane on their face. ‘Caul’ literally means ‘helmeted head’ or ‘veil’.
A baby with the caul is called the ‘caulbearer’.
Being born with the caul in medieval times was interpreted as a sign of good luck and that the child was destined for greatness.
Saving the caul was considered an important tradition of childbirth. The midwife would rub a sheet of paper across the baby’s head and face, pressing the material of the caul onto the paper.
It would then be presented to the mother, to be kept as an heirloom.
Other traditions have linked the caul to fertility and some say it protects a person from the forces of evil, such as witches and sorcerers.
Being born ‘en caul’ is the term used when the child is born within an intact amniotic sac, which occurred in the story above. It is also known as a ‘veiled birth’.
Most en caul births occur in premature babies.
Some legends suggest that being born en caul means you will never drown.
Statistics relating to such births are sparse, but deliveries involving any form of caul are thought to occur in roughly one in 80,000 births.
