A grave that archaeologists came across during a survey conducted in the past; both for history and for shed light on science and revealed an interesting event that left a question mark in people’s minds.

What made this tomb mysterious was not the fact that it contained a skeleton from the early Middle Ages. There were also small bones in the grave: Bones of a newborn baby.

This grave, discovered in 2018, sparked new research.

Discoveries showed that this grave dates from the early Middle Ages, around the 7th century. It was not unusual for a skeleton thousands of years old to be so well preserved. But the real surprise is; not with the bones preserved, but next to the adult bones in the grave They were the tiny bones of a newborn baby.

This discovery was examined in detail by a team of neurosurgeons. This team consisting of Alba Pasini, Vanessa Smamantha Manzon, Xabier Gonzalez-Muro and Emanuela Gualdi-Russo; He painstakingly analyzed the possibility of a dead woman giving birth under these conditions and evaluated this phenomenon from a medical perspective. So what was the result?

Several research papers and articles have also been published on this topic.

Given the period of the grave, it was believed that the body of the deceased was probably left directly in the ground without a protective element such as a coffin. According to medical historical research, this is also the case born in the grave It was recorded as the first baby case.

While a pregnant woman can lose her baby even with a small blow; vital functions lost How can a woman’s baby survive in her womb?

postmortem This phenomenon, called fetal extrusion, The explanation for this is a medical phenomenon: when the pregnant mother dies, the body continues to push the baby out within 48 to 72 hours.

The concept of ‘birth in a coffin’ is called post-mortem fetal extrusion in medicine.

Representative image (DALL-E)

dead pregnant woman The gases that accumulate in the body cause the fetus to come out. If you look at the bones of the fetus; He was seen to be a baby about to be born and was 9 months old. But determining the exact age is of course difficult for experts. Also keep in mind that the distribution of the fetus’s bones can be affected by insects that eat rotting flesh in the grave.

San Francisco gynecologist Jen Gunter, commenting on how the baby is born while the mother dies, put forward a theory: that the uterus ruptures and pushes the fetus out. “Was the baby alive?” If you think so, you’re not alone. But in such a case, let’s give the answer right away whether the fetus is still alive It is very difficult to determine.

When the fetus has sufficiently completed its development can survive for some time despite the death of the mother. However, as you will understand, this leads to scenarios that should not even be considered.

Another notable point is that the crack in the woman’s skull may have been caused by a flat tire.

This condition, called trepanation, It was an age-old method used to treat problems such as headaches. It is thought that it may have been applied to pregnant women at that time, especially in cases such as eclampsia or severe high blood pressure. However, these cracks in the bone may be the result of an attack rather than a surgical procedure.

As you can see, this event has occurred throughout history. shaped the history of medicine It is an interesting and frightening event. Even though we often doubt its reality, we should not forget that such things can happen.

Our other content related to the history of medicine: