There’s a mythology that goes with babies who are born still in the amniotic sac. Highly prized amongst sea-faring families, babies born en caul are said to never drown. And you can see why.
Maybe the myths are true?
As this  almost alien figure emerges from the womb, it’s easy to get the sense that its life holds magical qualities.
The child breathes underwater as oxygen is fed through its belly via the umbilical cord, and as it strains against the membrane shielding it from the outside world,  there’s a sense that maybe we have moved into a new dimension. One where the human race no longer enters the world naked and screaming. Where the ungainliness of feet first and flailing arms and accidents that happen in hospital doorways or over toilets is a thing of another age that nobody remembers.
We are delivered lovingly, by gloved hands through a clean incision in the tummy, and the sac that has been our home since conception peels back softly to reveal our tiny forms.
One lucky baby
Regardless of the myths surrounding children born en caul or ‘in the veil’, there is some evidence that the health of babies by caesarean may really be improved by such an occurrence.
A 2010 study found that in the case of extremely premature babies, delivering them en caul may serve to protect them from pressure trauma in the uterus.
Regardless, it’s a rare and beautiful thing to watch, isn’t it?
Want more mind-blowing? Incredibly rare footage shows the awesomeness that is amniotic birth.
