A healthy baby boy was born on Tuesday morning as a result of the rare failure of an intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) in the northern Vietnamese city of Hai Phong, around 120 kilometers from Hanoi.
The birth of the ‘stubborn’ boy was a massive surprise to both parents and doctors.
In fact, the situation was so bizarre that doctors made sure to snap a picture of the newborn holding the IUCD as a memento of the incident.
IUCD, also known as coil, is a small, often T-shaped birth control device that is inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy.
Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hoi, director of Hai Phong International General Hospital, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper the 3.3-kilogram baby is the woman’s third child, adding that he is healthy and even ‘returned’ the contraceptive device to his parents afterward.
The 34-year-old mother is a bank employee working in Hai Phong.
She had given birth two times in 2011 and 2015 before choosing to have the IUCD placed inside her in 2018 at a local hospital.
She first suspected she might be pregnant when she missed her period and doctors found the embryo growing inside her womb despite the IUCD still being in place.
By the time she delivered, the IUCD had become lodged in her placenta.
After labor, doctors snapped photos of the newborn holding the IUCD to mark the special event and let his parents take it home as a joyful souvenir.
Copper IUCDs have a failure rate of about 0.8 percent while hormonal (levonorgestrel) devices fail about 0.2 percent of the time within the first year of use, according to a manual published by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, citing data from several U.S. health agencies.
This article was originally published in Tuoitrenews