Woman delivers own baby still in its amniotic sac in car

An American woman was forced to deliver her own baby in a car while rushing to the hospital when her contractions got too much to bear. 

And the birth in her fiance's car wasn't an ordinary one.

The image Raelin Scurry of Pennsylvania shared on Instagram shows her clasping her son while still inside his amniotic sac and premature at 29 weeks. She panicked as she could not see him breathing inside the sac.

Ms Scurry wrote on Instagram: "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."

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The car finally pulled up at the hospital seven minutes after the birth.

Little Ean Jamal weighed 3lb 1oz and Scurry was relieved he made it considering everything that had happened.

She certainly didn't expect him to enter the world prematurely on August 5. At first, she thought she was having midterm pregnancy contractions so she wasn't too worried.

But after 45 minutes of increasing pain she decided to go to hospital to make sure everything was all right.

While travelling in the car, "the contractions continued to get closer together and more intense and before I knew it I knew it was time to push," she wrote on Instagram.

"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 realised he was still completely wrapped in the amniotic sac."

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An unborn baby floats and moves in the fluid-filled amniotic sac. Besides protecting the baby from any knocks and injury, it also provides the baby with fluids.

In a birth, the amniotic sac breaks, draining the fluid through the vagina.

But this wasn't the case for Scurry.

Hers was an en caul birth, which is very rare at an estimated one in 80,000 births and more common in caesarean sections than vaginal births.

But for her and her fiance, it's a celebration of having another child - they already have a five-year-old girl.

"He doing wonderful all things considered," Scurry said. "I know he's going to be an awesome little man! He is truly a miracle baby. We are so blessed to be his parents."

chenj@sph.com.sg