A mother has shared an amazing video of her baby literally delivering itself – by WRIGGLING out of her womb.
Sarah Cooke underwent a “natural caesarean” and described it as “the next best thing” to a natural birth.
Sarah – who is married to Chris, 35 – posted her video, which shows the moment doctors cut into her tummy and opened up a pathway for her baby boy to make his own way out of her womb, on You Tube.
Sarah, from Plymouth, Devon, had the procedure carried out at Torbay Hospital and said she shared the clip online because it was a birth experience she will “cherish forever”.
She said: “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!
“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.”
Throughout the video the expectant mum stays calm and cheerful and is seen smiling while the doctor slowly eases out the baby’s head.
Once it is safely out, the doctor then leaves the baby to wriggle its own way out of Sarah’s womb.
On onlooker is heard to say during the video: “He’s definitely delivering himself.”
Natural caesareans are becoming increasingly popular as they reportedly provide newborns with a more gradual and peaceful entry into the world.
They allow the baby to partly make its own way out of the womb once an incision has been made instead of being forcibly removed by doctors and taken away from the mum.
It can take up to four minutes for the baby to work itself out and it is then placed on the mum’s chest to help the bonding process.
Leo, who was born in the video, is their only child.
He was born in January 2015, but the video went viral l after it was shared on netmums, a parenting forum.
Sarah, who works for the NHS, said: “I don’t think they had ever done one at Torbay Hospital before.
“It is to mimic the squeezing of the baby’s lungs as they come out as they would in natural cases with a vaginal birth.
“I knew I had to have a caesarean for health reasons anyway so that choice was taken away from me.
“But I wanted to take control and feel part of the process and not just be behind a screen.
“I knew it would not be anywhere near vaginal natural but it would be the closest thing I could get with an operational procedure.
“I had researched it all before and there were no more risks than an standard elective caesarean.
“This was not an emergency caesarean. It had been planned for medical purposes.
“It has been offered for a few years but it has not ever taken off.
“It is certainly being offered to expectant mums more now and the video has generated an awful lot of interest.”
Sarah gave birth in January last year and put the video up the following month and has been stunned by the interest it has created.
She said: “It has 58,000 views on YouTube but was picked up by parenting forum netmums this week and is now in the millions online.
“I am shocked and overwhelmed by it all. I kept getting tagged on Facebook that I was an internet sensation and it spiralled from there.
“Leo is now 16 months old and it has all been a real whirlwind. He is a cheeky, beautiful little boy.
“It was a very calm situation throughout, which you can see on the video. I was kept calm and informed the whole way through.
“I did not know the sex and had been convinced through the pregnancy I was having a girl so it was a real shock to find I had a boy.
“I was nervous like any mum would be. They had to help Leo’s head out and shoulder and then he literally delivered himself.”
Sarah said that it was something she had no regrets doing.
She added: “Having a caesarean is major abdominal surgery and is not a decision to take lightly.
“However if the need is there for mum or baby’s health to have it, this is a lovely way to be part of that process.
“It is better for the baby because of the squeezing of the lungs and it is not a rushed process. They have got time to adapt.
“I am happy to see the video being shared and the majority of people have been very positive that hopefully it has been quite inspiring to people.
“There have been a few negative comments but these have been ill-informed.
“I would have bonded with my son no matter what. But doing it this way does help as I was the first to see him as he went straight to my tummy for a cuddle.
“It was a private moment but it was my decision to make it public by putting it on You Tube.
“It is also for woman to inspire them if they need a caesarean that it can be natural and hopefully the message has now been widely.”
When Leo was born he weighed 7lbs 6oz.
