This Baby Being Born in His Amniotic Sac Will Honestly Blow Your Mind

It's impossible to look away.
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A baby has slipped right from his mother's womb into the spotlight. A Facebook video that shows a baby born fully encased in his protective amniotic sac has racked up over 66,000 shares and over 23 million views to date. People are fascinated for good reason—being born in the amniotic sac, or "en caul," isn't an everyday thing. In SELF's interview with Leilani Rogers, a childbirth and breastfeeding photographer, Rogers mentioned that an en-caul photo was her favorite image of all the 60-plus births she's photographed so far.

Facebook user Jasmine Perez uploaded the stunning video on February 16, 2016. In it, you can see the baby wriggling around and even yawning in his sac while a woman in the background coos "nació cómodo," a Spanish phrase that translates to "he was born comfortable." Right before the doctor attends to the sac with a pair of scissors, he says "bienvenido," which means "welcome' in English. Chills, anyone? The doctor then makes careful cuts through the sac, and the baby pops out and starts crying. Watch the full video below.

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When babies are born en caul, they're still nestled inside the amniotic sac, which is a protective membrane that holds them during pregnancy, according to Mayo Clinic. Along with the fetus, the sac is filled with amniotic fluid, which serves many important functions for a growing baby. It keeps the baby nice and toasty, aids in lung development, helps strengthen the baby's bones, and protects against outside injury, according to the National Institutes of Health.

As labor begins, the sac usually ruptures so the fluid gushes out. That causes the phenomenon known as "water breaking," aka what always happens at the eleventh hour in TV shows and movies to make sure the plot ends on a warm and fuzzy note with a birth. Since that happens in most cases, a baby being born en caul only occurs in fewer than one out of every 80,000 births, according to BabyMed. Capturing it on video is even rarer, which is likely why this one is spreading like wildfire.

This baby isn't the first to get major attention for being born en caul. In February of last year, little Silas Johnson, who arrived into the world ahead of schedule at 26 weeks instead of the usual 40, was also born in his amniotic sac.

via Cedars-Sinai

"We caught our breath. It really felt like a moment of awe,” William Binder, a neonatologist at Cedars-Sinai who helped deliver Johnson, told CBS Los Angeles. “This was really a moment that will stick in my memory for some time.” Binder took a quick photo of baby Johnson before freeing him from his sac.

Since he was born at less than 32 weeks, baby Johnson was technically "very preterm," according to Mayo Clinic. Luckily, 10 weeks after spending some time in the hospital, Cedars-Sinai posted on Facebook that he was almost ready to head home. His mom, Chelsea Phillips, found out Silas was born en caul hours after the birth. "It was actually really cool to see," she told CBS Los Angeles. "Since the moment he was born, he's been a little fighter."