Russian Tourist Gives Birth In The Red Sea, Egypt

Revealed: Viral images of touching Red Sea birth actually showed family bathing days-old baby with its umbilical cord still attached in the Egyptian waters for heath benefits

• Images surfaced earlier this week purporting to show a Russian woman giving birth in the Red Sea in Egypt
• In fact, the images show the baby being bathed in the ocean several days after birth, the father has revealed
• The umbilical cord and placenta had been left attached because of the supposed health benefits
• Father was seen carrying the baby from the water with a Russia doctor who was helping with the child's care

Incredible images purporting to show the moment a Russian woman gave birth in the Red Sea in Egypt actually show the baby being bathed in the water several days after birth, the father has revealed.

The baby girl's Russian mother and Serbian father had decided to bathe her in the ocean with the umbilical cord and placenta still attached because of the supposed health benefits.

Onlookers in the resort town of Dahab captured the moment the father carried his days-old daughter from the water accompanied by a Russian doctor who was helping with her care.



Images purporting to show the moment a baby was born in the Red Sea in Dahab, Egypt, actually show the moment the baby was bathed days after being born, the father has revealed



Stunned onlookers captured the baby being carried from the waves by the father and a Russian doctor helping with her care, before being followed by the mother



Once back on shore the new mother was reunited with her newborn child and another of the couple's children in this touching family moment captured from a nearby balcony



The older man is a well-known Russian doctor who specialises in water births. The mother had opted to deliver the baby in a pool, but this happened several days before these images were taken

The mother follows close behind before the family are reunited on the beach in a touching scene.

The doctor is a well-known Russian specialist in water births. The mother had opted to have her delivery in a birthing pool, but this happened inside a house before the images were taken.

The incident happened in October 2014 but the pictures were first uploaded to social media this week, where they quickly went viral.

Prominent Egyptian sportswoman Hadia Hosny El Said posted them to her Facebook page claiming they showed the woman giving birth in the ocean. The post has since been deleted.

Before the post was deleted it had been shared more than 2,000 times and attracted thousands of comments.

Commenters on social media praised the 'beauty' of the moment.



The pictures were uploaded to Facebook by Egyptian sportswoman Hadia Hosny El Said who claimed to have taken them from her uncle's balcony and said the woman gave birth in the ocean. The post has since been deleted



Social media users praised the beauty of the moment as the images were shared thousands of times online



The incident took place in October 2014 but the images first appeared on social media this week before going viral

Water births: Less pain for mum and less stress for baby

Water births are a popular alternative to giving birth in air because many mothers find the feeling of being submerged in hot water means they experience less pain during contractions and the birth itself.

Babies born underwater are often calmer than those born in air, and tend to struggle and cry less after leaving the mother, according to guidance from public health body NCT.

Water births work because the breathing reflex is triggered by the change in temperature as the baby is born and the sensation of air on the skin.

This means that, provided the baby remains fully submerged in warm water, they continue receiving oxygen through the umbilical cord until they surface meaning they do not drown.

While there is no clear statistical evidence that babies born in water receive heath benefits, that means the opposite is also true - that there are no clear negative effects either.

However, water births are usually not recommended for mothers who have suffered complications during their pregnancy because the baby may need to be monitored with sensitive electronic equipment that cannot go in the pool.

Water births are also not recommended for very overweight mothers who may struggle to get out of the pool should their birthing plan need to change quickly.

If undertaking a home water birth, efforts should be taken to keep the water below 37C. A higher temperature risks overheating the baby and causing undue stress.

While lower temperatures are not recommended, this is largely because it negates many of the benefits to the mother - such as increased comfort - rather than because it could harm the child.

Are water births safe?

As water births have grown in popularity, experts have debated their safety.

For a water birth, a woman is immersed in water during labor and/or delivery, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Current evidence suggests that undergoing the early stages of labor in water may offer some benefits, such as shorter labor, ACOG says. So, the option of laboring in water may be offered to healthy women who are at least 37 weeks pregnant.

However, there isn't enough data on the risks and benefits of actually delivering the baby in the water for ACOG to recommend this method.

"Experts don't feel we're at a point yet where we can say it's safe," Aftab said. If a woman requests to give birth in water, she should be informed that the risks of this practice haven't been studied sufficiently, ACOG says.

One concern is that the baby may breathe in water and drown, ACOG says. There's also a risk for infection if the birthing tub has not been properly cleaned or if the water used for the birth is contaminated. (Last year, it was reported that two babies in Arizona got Legionnaires' diseaseafter they were delivered via water birth.)

What about an ocean birth?

A birth in the ocean could have several additional complications, Aftab told Live Science. Given that the ocean is a vast and unpredictable environment, there is a risk that the mother could drown in her vulnerable state.

In addition, the high concentration of salt in ocean water could pose risks for a baby. Even if a baby takes in only a few gulps of seawater, it could damage the child given its small size, Aftab said. And because the temperature of ocean water cannot be controlled, a baby could become hypothermic, leading to poor outcomes, Aftab said.

And like other water births, an ocean birth could result in infection. "Babies are just so vulnerable" to infections and other hazards, Aftab said.

While an ocean birth may be off the table, Aftab said that medical professionals can work with mothers to "come up with a birth plan that keeps needs and wishes for labor front and center," while also keeping the health and safety of the baby in mind, Aftab said. "There may be room for a happy medium," she said.

The best chances of having a safe water birth would be under medical supervision in a health care facility, Aftab said. There, caregivers can closely monitor mother and baby, and the temperature and sterility of the water can be controlled, Aftab said.

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