Life
Pregnant woman swims past tourists to give birth in the sea
This isn't exactly what you expect to see at the beach!
Khadija Bilal
06.08.20

The beach is a lovely place to spend some time with your friends and family. The sun, sea, and sand all combine to help us feel totally relaxed, lying back and working on our tan, playing ball games on the sand, or splashing around in the water.

There are plenty of fun things to do at the beach, but giving birth to a baby isn’t one of them!

That didn’t seem to stop one mom from strolling right on past her fellow beach-goers and swimming into the sea to give birth to her baby.

NYPost/CEN
Source:
NYPost/CEN

Extraordinary images seem to show this woman giving birth to a baby under the water of the Red Sea.

Allegedly, the mom was from Russia and was accompanied by the child’s father and the family doctor for the very natural birth at the resort town of Dahab in Egypt.

Local media reports say that the town, which used to be a simple fishing village and is situated about 50 miles away from Sharm el-Sheikh, has become a popular spot for seawater births, with many moms-to-be believing that natural and water births are beneficial for their babies and can help them to feel more relaxed during labor, despite the lack of scientific studies or proof.

NYPost/CEN
Source:
NYPost/CEN

The images show the father and doctor standing by with a little plastic bucket to hold the placenta, and we can also see the umbilical cord still attached to the baby too.

It might seem surprising at first, but many users have commented on the ‘beauty’ of the images.

No additional information was released regarding the sex of the baby, the names of the parents, or any other details about what exactly was going on, but some media have suggested that the whole thing was misinterpreted.

NYPost/CEN
Source:
NYPost/CEN

A report over on LadBible suggests that the woman wasn’t actually giving birth but had simply taken her newborn baby to the sea to bathe in the waters, leaving the placenta attached for the supposed health benefits it could provide.

The idea of leaving the placenta attached to the baby is an increasingly popular trend among parents that like the idea of natural births, and the method is known as a ‘lotus birth’.

For a lotus birth, the cord and placenta are left attached to the child for about a week until they naturally separate.

NYPost/CEN
Source:
NYPost/CEN

It’s still unclear what exactly is going on with this family and their newborn baby, but medical experts definitely advise against the idea of giving birth to a baby in the salty waters of seas and oceans.

Speaking to LiveScience, Doctor Saima Aftab of the Fetal Care Center at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami said that ocean births could be harmful to newborn babies, even if a medical professional was on the scene.

Aftab explained that while regular, controlled water births might not be too risky, the salty water of the ocean could easily damage a baby’s body, and the water could be excessively cold as well, which could lead to additional complications.

NYPost/CEN
Source:
NYPost/CEN

Whatever happened that day, it must have been quite a sight for the other people at the beach to spot a brand new baby being carried around among the waves with its umbilical cord still attached.

Let’s just hope that the baby wasn’t harmed in any way and has been developing normally since these photos were taken.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Article Sources:
To learn more read our Editorial Standards.
Advertisement