Newborn Baby Delivered Floating In Intact Amniotic Sac, En Caul, By Greek Doctor!!!

Dr. Aris Tsigiris is obstetrician who posted one astonishing photo of a newborn baby delivered still inside its intact amniotic sac on the Facebook page of his medical practice on March 11.

Dr. Tsigiris, an OB/GYN was operating out of Marousi. This is suburban city northeast of Athens in which Greece hosted the 2004 Olympics. He wrote in Greek that the healthy baby was delivered surgically by cesarean section, still surrounded by the amniotic sac filled with placenta.

Dr. Tsigiris explains that this delivery was an “ultra rare” occurrence because the baby felt and behaved as if it had not yet been born even though it had already exited the womb.

Science explains that during pregnancy, unborn babies float in the amniotic sac, or better said a fluid – filled membrane that cushions, protects, and nourishes them as they develop.

This amniotic sac in most cases breaks when a pregnant woman goes into labor. This occurrence is known as “water breaking” with amniotic fluid gushing out of the birth canal, and signals that the baby is on its way.

In very rare cases, such as this one, the amniotic sac does not rupture on its own. Such a birth, in which the baby is delivered surrounded by all or part of the amniotic membrane, is known as an “en caul, or “veiled” birth.

Dr. Tsigiris explains that such veiled births are more common, but still quite rare, in premature births. According statistics to BabyMed, there are less than 1 in 80,000 babies are born with a caul.

According to a study at 2010, cesarean deliveries actually can protect fragile premature babies from pressure trauma in the uterus. It was found the benefits from leaving the amniotic membrane intact until after removal from the womb.

Neven Gibbs is former farrier and animal behaviorist and he says that en caul births are also extremely rare among other mammals, requiring the mother to tear the amniotic sac herself if the offspring does not break it open with its own claws, hooves, or teeth.

Although is seems alarming for a baby to born surrounded by a watery bubble, Dr. Tsigiris claims that there is no danger of the newborn drowning inside the exposed amniotic sac, since the placenta continues feeding it nutrients and oxygen through the umbilical cord. The explanation is that the baby immediately takes its first breath of air once the amniotic sac is ruptured, a simple surgical technique called an amniotomy in which a thin hook opens the membrane.

Dr. Tsigiris was astonished because the baby was enclosed in its amniotic membrane, saying in Greek that sometimes “nature transcends itself, leaving even obstetricians speechless”. At the same time he expresses gratitude to Association des Sages Femmes du Cap Bon (Midwives’ Association of Cap Bon) for its assistance.

This photo on Facebook, captured by Dr. Aris Tsigiris, provoked admiration at Facebook, and had over 10,000 “likes” in a period of 24 hours of its posting, according to a translation of the Greek site News 247. By June, it had gathered over 8,000 shares and almost 800 comments.