The Caulbearer

It should be noted that Caulbearers may be male or female and may come from any social class, racial or religious group. There are no geographical boundaries to the phenomenon.

What a Caul is not

There are many misconceptions about the exact description of a caul. Other phenomena which are often mistaken for a Caulbearer birth are as follows.

En-caul births: Some children are born while still enclosed within the amniotic sac or membrane, the amnion, which surrounds the newborn. This usually entails the child being born with a sac of transparent or translucent membrane surrounding all or part of the child. This phenomenon is referred to as being born en-caul, which is the medical term for such births, as in the general sense the words caul and membrane share the same common description. Here is a link to a photo of an en-caul birth and one to a video of an en-caul birth.

As mentioned previously, this is not a Caulbearer birth, and is one of the most commonly held misunderstandings of being born with a caul, as the word caul is often used to describe a covering or lining.

Lucky Cap: Some dictionaries refer to a caul as being a bonnet or cap, which is misleading, as a true Caul is not something that sits on top of the head, but is a mask upon the face of the child, secured by two ear loops. Anything other than this is not a Caulbearer birth. When a child is born with residue or other placental material stuck to the face or head, which can often happen as part of the birthing process, this is yet again often mistaken for a true Caulbearer birth. A Caulbearer birth with a genuine caul is quite distinctive, as the Caul or Veil is a full face covering, something like a thin mask.