The baby with the spiral, the photo that went around the world
Attention: even if not specified by the hospital, but as happened in other cases, the IUD was definitely removed at delivery, probably because it could not be removed during pregnancy without involving risks. It was not indicated that the child was born with the IUD in his hands!
The photo, taken by doctors at the Hai Phong international hospital at the end of June, captures a newborn with his eyes closed, holding an intrauterine device (in this case a copper IUD). Within moments of its upload to the hospital’s social network , the image received over 3,000 likes and over 7,000 comments and shares.
The photo was taken by obstetrics department head Tran Viet Phuong, who said the moment she saw the baby grabbing the IUD , she immediately thought about taking the picture. But he hadn’t imagined all the attention this shot would cause.
The child’s mother, a 34-year-old woman, had already had two previous pregnancies and had decided to use the IUD as a contraceptive method ( see also other contraceptive methods ).
Two years earlier, she had had the intrauterine device inserted at a local hospital. She later found out via ultrasound that she was carrying a five-week-old fetus (see How Big It Is and What Happens in Week 5 ).
She gave birth at full term to a healthy baby weighing 3.2 kg on June 30, 2020. Congratulations!
Why didn’t the spiral work?
The IUD, although it has a high rate of effectiveness, is not 100% reliable . Upon insertion, the device may have been dislodged from its original position and thus lost its effectiveness, as happened to this Vietnamese woman.
It is not the first time that we have news of this type, recently another newborn was immortalized who was born despite the IUD and which probably had not been removed to limit the risk of miscarriage.
Despite this we recall that according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) the intrauterine device is one of the most effective forms of birth control , with a failure rate of less than 1% during the first year of use.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.