Samantha Garcia Gagnon, a Canadian based doula and birth photographer, recently shared an amazing photo of a baby being born face first.
The incredible snap was shared with the mama’s consent.
Face first births are pretty rare and only account for around 0.4% of births, so the photo is pretty special.
Doula Shares Amazing Photo Of Rare Face First Birth
It’s quite a rare treat to be able to see what your baby looks like before they’ve even been born.
Sharing the photo on her blog, Gagnon said: “As a doula and birth photographer. I am witness to the most amazing moments. And then there are these moments. These rare, hardly ever happens moments. I was so excited to be witness to this unique moment, and to get to photograph it too – AMAZING!”
Gagnon went on to say: “I just want to end this saying I am so incredibly proud of my wonderful client. She did such AN AMAZING job and was so strong and focused through it all.”
Most babies are born head first, which is the optimal fetal positioning for birth, with the crown of the head being born first (hence the term ‘crowning’).
These babies are positioned in the uterus with their chin tucked into their chest. This position means the smallest diameter of your baby’s head is born first.
However, not all babies read the manual, and some aren’t in the optimal position when it’s time to be born. Breech is the most well known and common malpresentation, while ‘face first’ is one of the most rare. Only one in every 600 to 800 babies is born face first, so Gagnon was lucky to capture such a great shot of this rare event.
Giving birth to a ‘face first’ baby can take longer and may sometimes be misdiagnosed as ‘failure to progress’.
This is because the baby’s face isn’t great at applying pressure to the cervix and is unable to mold shape as it travels through the birth canal. The pushing stage, in particular, may be longer.
Babies born face first will often have swollen or bruised facial features for the first few days of life as a result of the pressure during birth. This can cause the baby some discomfort so it’s a good idea to be mindful if there are any challenges with early breastfeeding and bonding.
