Warning: Some viewers may find the content in the video graphic.
A woman has shared a fascinating video of her "natural caesarean" to show it's the "next best thing" to giving birth naturally.
Sarah Saunders, from Devon, was filmed in the operating theatre as surgeons performed a c-section and helped her baby to guide himself out.
"I wanted to share this video to show that if you are unable to give birth 'naturally' that having a natural caesarean is the next best thing," Saunders wrote on the video.
"My son delivers himself after the surgeon helps his head out. The team were phenomenal and gave me a birth experience I will cherish forever.
"Please feel free to share with anyone you may feel would benefit watching."
In the video, surgeons can be seen making an incision in Saunder's stomach before helping to guide out the baby's head.
Saunders looks calm and smiles as the baby's head comes out of her stomach.
The doctors then wait for several seconds before pulling out the baby's shoulders, too.
They then let go of the baby, allowing him to move freely and slowly wriggle out of his mother's stomach.
After the baby manages to pull one of his arms out, the surgeon takes hold of his head allowing him to slowly slide out completely.
"He's definitely delivering himself," a member of the staff in the room can be heard saying.
"Have you seen something, is it a boy?" Saunders replies.
As the baby slides out, both Saunders and the baby begin to cry.
"It's a boy! You were right. He's gorgeous," she says as she looks down.
Saunders' video of her natural caesarean was originally shared in February 2015, but has recently been picked up and shared online.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said a "natural caesarean" is an attempt to "enable well women who undergo surgical delivery to experience the women-centred, family-friendly approach used at vaginal birth, by adopting a less regimented, less staff-orientated practice".
On their website, they state: "Although surgical technique is unchanged, it puts the parents at the centre of events enabling them to witness the slow, gentle birth of their baby, discover his/her gender and experience immediate skin-to-skin contact.
"The technique does not compromise either safety or sterility."
During a natural caesarean, as soon as the surgical incision is completed and the surgeon has started to bring the baby’s head out to the surface, the screen is lowered and the head of the theatre table raised so the mother can watch the birth.
SEE ALSO:
