Last year, Sarah Saunders uploaded a birthing video of herself at Torbay Hospital in England. While the idea of uploading a video on social media seems unusual, it's actually more common than you'd think. However, as common as the act has become, Saunders' video is particularly breathtaking for one reason: in her video, the baby is seen delivering himself during a C-section!
Sarah Saunders herself has referred to this style of birth as a "natural caesarean". It sounds crazy but it's actually a common act. In the medical community, this process is called “walking the baby out”. The British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology describes the process as such: the baby’s head is delivered, and then the surgeon goes “hands-off” while the baby auto-resuscitates.
Here are some of the highlights of the must see, breathtaking video:
The video begins with Saunders lying down calmly as the doctors manipulate her uterus. She sits back and seems surprisingly relaxed, cheerful even, as she prepares for the incision.
In bizarre fashion, after her child's head emerges from the incision, the doctor's let the child's head rest there. Initially, they attempt to aid the child in leaving the womb, but as seen in the video, the little guy was in control of the situation. Astonishing!
The doctors were surprised as well! “He’s delivering himself,” one them exclaims during the video. “Brilliant," another doctor adds.
“Do you want to give a push?” the surgeon jokes with Saunders as they witness a one-of-a-kind birth. “What?” she responds with a nervous giggle. The entire room also laughs nervously as the breathtaking "natural caesarean" occurs right before their eyes. The baby begins to cry as he struggles to "walk" out of the remainder of the womb, and the doctors begin to guide the courageous newborn through the rest of the way.
The process was unusual to say the least, but it's truly amazing to see on camera, and you have to be thankful that a mother like Saunders was willing to share such a breathtaking experience.
"I wanted to share this video to show that if you are unable to give birth ‘naturally’ that having a natural caesarean is the next best thing!” Saunders writes in the caption of the video. “In this amazing video my son delivers himself after the surgeon helps his head out. The team at Torbay were phenomenal and gave me a birth experience I will cherish forever.”
You can watch the entirety of this truly mesmerising video here:
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