Miracle baby born through ‘mermaid delivery’ on New Year’s Day beat one in 80,000 odds
MUM Aimee Vick shows off the “mermaid baby” she had on New Year’s Day.
When Aurora was born, weighing 7lb, she was still inside her amniotic sac — known as an en caul birth. It is also known as a veiled or mermaid delivery.
En caul deliveries are rare, occurring in less than one in 80,000 births.
Mum-of-three Aimee, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said no one noticed her waters never broke because everything happened so quickly.
Aimee told The Sun: “It was inspiring. It feels like she is very special now. I knew my waters hadn’t broken but they assumed they would break when I was in the birthing pool.
“They didn’t have the chance to check me because it happened so quickly. It was a surprise.
Aimee said of her daughter: “We named her Aurora. We had the name for a while and the Aurora lights were happening at the time of her birth.
Aimee had chosen to book in for a C-section because her previous two pregnancies were late and she described Aurora as a “challenging pregnancy”.
She went for a pre-op in the morning of New Year’s Day but woke up feeling sick.
Medics did a lot of blood tests to check her over and she had to lie down a few times because she felt she was going to pass out.
She said: “I didn’t know how an emergency C-section worked or if I needed one straight away.
“When I got there it was very busy and my contractions started a lot quicker so I went to the birthing unit and decided I was going to do it naturally.
“It happened very quickly. Within about three hours of being there I was in the birthing pool and she came suddenly. It was very painful and not what I was prepared for.
“I was in so much pain. I think it was the most painful birth I have had because it was so quick. I wasn’t very with it when it happened.
“She came into the water in her sac. The midwife had to open it up and pass her to me. It was pretty amazing.”
Aurora was born weighing seven pounds just a few days early.