Did you know some babies are born without the amniotic sac breaking, and in their own waters? It’s a rare phenomenon (1 in 80,000), and babies born this way are said to be incredibly lucky, these 'en caul' births, are also known as ‘mermaid births’, or ‘veiled births’ and are said to be incredibly lucky babies!
One very special little birth base baby boy was born this way. Sarah, his incredible mum, shares with us her absolutely gorgeous positive birth story below...
Scroll to the bottom and you'll also find some amazing information about en caul births, and how they were said to be 'magical' throughout history...
Sarah's Stunning Positive Birth Story
''I was really anxious when I found out I was pregnant. Although I had wanted a baby for so long, the thought of birth had always scared me. I knew I needed some sort of help with my nerves and I was so relieved to have found Kristina. I signed up to her group course and from the very first session I knew that hypnobirthing would help me.
Throughout my pregnancy I had listened to the tracks daily and I did my best to try and make positive associations that I could take into hospital with me when the time came. A week before my due date I went to bed and truly said to my husband, “I think I’m ready, I would be happy if the baby came now”. A few hours later I woke up with some mild contractions. I got into the bath and with my music and candles on, I started my breathing. I began to time the contractions and when they sped up about 40 minutes later, we headed into the hospital.
I had been hoping for a water birth in the birthing centre and when we arrived I remembered the tips Kristina had given me and my rights with regards to being monitored. Even now, when I think back to those moments, I was so deeply involved with my breathing that I can’t fully remember how I communicated those things to the team- but somehow I did!
The midwives were fantastic and I was quite quickly taken to a room with a birthing pool where I spent the remainder of my labour. My husband had learned from Kristina how best to support me in those moments and he set the room up how we had chosen. I remember feeling calm, in control and powerful. My beautiful boy arrived around 2 hours later, I had an en caul birth (a really rare birth, where he was born in his own waters) and it was everything I could have ever dreamed of.
I was very lucky that everything went to plan, but I do believe that having the hypnobirthing skills meant that I stayed much calmer than I would have done otherwise, probably a big contributing factor to my baby’s birth. I look back to son’s arrival with such happiness and pride and I’m so grateful for the help Kristina gave 😊''
More about en caul births...
How can this incredible phenomenon happen? During pregnancy your baby is protected by the amniotic sac (which has tow layers of membranes & filled with amniotic fluid). Usually, at some point during labour the amniotic sac will break (i.e. when your ‘waters’ break). But sometimes, this doesn’t happen and bay can be born totally en caul (within the inner layer of membrane) or partially covered by the membrane.
Why are en caul babies special?
Across many cultures, en caul births are attributed with luck, good fortune, with the baby set to achieve greatness, or have magical or spiritual abilities.
Historically, the ‘caul’ the amniotic sac was sometimes stolen by midwives or sold by families, as a token of protection! Sailors would buy birth cauls as they believed it would make them immune from drowning. Lawyers would buy cauls as a good luck token to help them win their court cases, and coal miners would carry cauls with them to ward off fires and explosion.
Powdered caul would also be used in ‘love potions’, and in some countries used in medicine to cure malaria!
Cauls have also been said within Early Modern European traditions to defend fertility , and protect the harvest against ‘forces of evil’, particularly witches and sorcerers.
In Dalmatia, placing a caul under a dying person's bed was believed to make one's passing easier.
Have you heard any other theories about en caul births? I’d love to hear them!
Incredible photograph by: @kimberlyephotographymt