There’s something special about a baby being born “in the caul”….meaning, the amniotic sac remains intact until baby is most or all of the way born. Cultures all around the world have things to say about babies born in the caul – all of them special and good! (babies will have a blessed life, they will have a special insight or empathy for others, baby will have second sight…if they are a sailor, they will never drown at sea…)

It is a rare occurrence due to the fact that so many care providers will artificially break the waters if mom is close to pushing and they haven’t broken yet. As a homebirth midwife, I see them more often because I do not break waters without a good medical indication to do so.

However…even though I may see them more often than a nurse or a doctor, we don’t usually get an opportunity to photograph it – and RARELY do we get mom who chooses a position which is conducive to such beautiful photographs! (we asked this mother repeatedly if this was the position she wanted to be in…and it was, indeed, her chosen position)  It also needs to be said that while the mother chose this position to birth in, and her baby had her hand up by her chin…yet again we see that mother’s know their own bodies as this mother birthed her baby gently and without ANY tears or injuries to herself AT ALL!  GO MAMA!!

Here are some amazing pictures of a baby born in the caul….thank you to the family for allowing Nurturing Hearts to witness her baby’s birth, but also for allowing us to share these awesome pictures!!

Baby is fully crowned...the white is vernix, the baby's dark hair is floating behind.

The head is slowly born....

Head is out....!!!

If you loose closely you can see the baby's eyes and nose. There is a pocket of fluid inside the sac on the bottom towards the bed.

We wait for the next contraction...see her little nose?

mom starts to push again....the baby's fingers can just start to be seen coming out towards the top...

The hand starts to be born...

It's been about 3 minutes here since the head was born...but baby looks AWESOME!

Mom pushes...the arm is almost out, all of baby is still tucked inside the amniotic sac.

Mom pushes, and midwife gets ready to catch the baby...

The sac is still intact and baby's shoulders come free.

here comes the baby!

the baby's right arm breaks free of the sac - the head and left arm are still tucked inside

The midwife begins to unwrap the baby as she hands her over to her mommy and daddy...!!! I know it's hard to see, but the baby's head and body are still completely covered in the membranes - the midwife's right thumb is under the membranes getting ready to gently lift them free - you can see the edge of the membranes on her thumb (her thumb is inside the membranes, the rest of her hands outside of them)...they are very transparent and shiny! In this photograph, the entire baby is still encased except the right arm and right leg. If you look very closely you can see the shiny membranes still encasing the baby's left leg even!