“Born in a shirt” - more than once successful and happy people have heard such a phrase addressed to them.
And where did this expression come from, what does it mean? Let's figure it out. To be born in a shirt means to be born in an unexploded, whole amniotic membrane. She envelops the newborn like a shirt. Usually this makes birth difficult: the baby may suffocate. In the old days, with the almost complete absence of medicine, surviving with such childbirth is already happiness. So there was a belief that being born in a shirt means
being happy all your life. Sometimes a newborn is born not in a shirt, but in a so-called hat, when only his head is covered with a shell. Such children were credited with clairvoyance, witchcraft, and other mystical features.
Is being born in a shirt good or bad?
At the beginning of the last century, it was fatal. Children born in the amniotic fluid often suffocated or died from amniotic fluid exposure . Today, such a danger practically does not exist. Modern medicine has invented a method (amniotomy) that allows the baby to leave its protective intrauterine membrane in time. Those who were born today in a shirt are becoming less and less.
Why is this happening?
Some women have an insufficient amount of amniotic fluid or too dense and elastic amniotic fluid. This may be due to genetics, drug exposure, or certain diseases. In this case, even if the cervix fully opens to release the newborn, the bladder does not burst (as in normal childbirth). He remains intact. It is in this case that doctors use amniotomy, or artificial bladder puncture. The word "amniotomy" consists of two: "sheath" + "dissection". The operation is performed on almost every woman giving birth according to plan. The doctor takes a special hook and punctures the amniotic fluid in such a way that the water in front of the baby’s head begins to pour out. Those that are behind remain in the bladder and help the newborn smoothly overcome the way out. Being born in a shirt is almost impossible today. It is worth noting that the procedure is completely painless and even imperceptible: in the fetal membrane there are no nerve endings.
Who is shown an amniotomy?
Doctors do not believe that being born in a shirt is a great happiness, and therefore every woman in childbirth who enters the hospital is carefully examined. Not all expectant mothers avoid a preliminary puncture of the bubble. Here are the indications for which amniotomy is required:
- Pregnancy overtaking. If the fetus is more than 41 weeks old, then the bladder membrane becomes very dense. It almost does not pass oxygen and nutrients. The fetus may die.
- Lingering contractions. They tire the woman so much that she has no strength left to try. With prolonged labor, the fetus is threatened with asphyxiation.
- Gestosis. This is a special pathological condition of pregnant women, which is accompanied by the appearance of very high pressure, protein in the urine, a disorder of the vascular and autonomic system, and edema.
- Not open cervix in time.
Those who were born in a shirt today are practically no different from other people. However, medical supervision of such lucky people in the first years of life is necessary.