'Moment of awe' as baby born in his amniotic sac

A baby boy created a "moment of awe" in the delivery room after he was born still inside his amniotic sac.

Ten-week-old Silas Johnson, who was 26 weeks premature, was delivered encased in the protective water-filled sac with his placenta and umbilical cord tucked inside in an example of a rare medical moment which occurs in less than one in 80,000 births.

Doctor William Binder, who snapped a picture on his phone after delivering Silas at California’s Cedars-Sinai Hospital, said the moment the baby arrived was breathtaking.

He told CBS Los Angeles: "Even though its a cliche, we caught our breath.

"It really felt like a moment of awe."

Silas, who was born by caesarean, had to be cut out of the sac by doctors and given help to take his first breaths. Usually the sac breaks on its own during birth in a process known as the mother's waters breaking.

Chelsea Phillips, who only learnt about the unusual circumstances surrounding her son's birth when she saw the picture of her baby in his translucent sac, said he was doing well and described the newborn as "a little fighter".