Labour can bring a whirlwind of emotions with it, especially since you can’t predict everything about it. For Raelin Scurry, her birth ended up being incredibly unexpected due to the fact her baby was still in its amniotic sac.
Raelin experienced what is known as an ‘en caul birth’, which means the amniotic sac remains unbroken during labour. As a result, the baby can look like it’s in a bubble.
But that wasn’t the only unexpected thing about the birth, as Raelin gave birth on the way to hospital in just 14 minutes whilst being driven by her fiance Ean. That's definitely not what you anticipate your labour to look like, so we're sure it was a scary time for both Ean and Raelin!
Her remarkable story has been shared on Instagram, where Raelin spoke about the circumstances surrounding the birth of her son Ean “EJ” Jr. Alongside a series of photographs, including EJ in the amniotic sac, her story is as follows.
‘Our birth story! ❤ The human body is truly an amazing thing. 8.5.2017 at about 10am I started having contractions. I was only 29 weeks and 4 days so I just figured they were Braxton hicks and decided to wait it out. After about 45 minutes of consistent contractions that were increasing in intensity I decided I should probably go in. I there in some clothes. Grabbed my daughter some clothes, her my fiance And I left for the hospital.
'I dropped my daughter to her God mommy Nicole And headed to the hospital. Well the contractions continued to get closer together and more intense and before I knew it I knew it was time to push. I called 911 because I was so scared. They couldn't understand me between the screams with contractions. So I handed the phone to my fiance. I pulled my pants off and reached down, sure enough his head was right there. I pushed one time and my miracle baby was here.
‘When I looked down I realized he was still completely wrapped in the amniotic sac. The dispatcher told us to pull over. But I knew we would make it to the hospital before they would make it to us. So I told Ean to keep driving. I was so scared. My Fiance was so calm driving and on the phone with 911. At first the baby was still and all I could do was pray he would be okay. And then I rubbed his face with my thumb and he pulled his little hands and feet up to his face as if he understood my prayers and wanted to reassure us he was okay. About 7 minutes passed that I held this miracle baby in my hands until we made it to the hospital.’
Raelin explained just how rare her situation is at the end of her story, revealing that an en caul birth only happens 1 in every 80,000 births. EJ was very small when he was born, but now seems to be doing very well.
During an en caul birth, the sac is removed by the physician or midwife immediately following the birth of a baby. Statistics also show that most of these births are premature, which was the case for Raelin too as she went into labour at 29 weeks.
