Coffin Birth or Postmortem Fetal Extrusion is the delivery of a nonviable fetus from the body of its decomposing mother. The fetus is expelled from the uterus through the vaginal opening as a result of the gases produced during the bloat stage of decomposition. These gases increase intra-abdominal pressure, pressing on the uterus enough to deliver the child and in some cases, causing the uterus to prolapse or evert (turn inside out).
“Coffin Birth” is generally considered a rare event in pathology. The above images are from a 2008 homicide case of a 38-year-old woman who was 7 months pregnant. She had disappeared from her home in Panama and was found several days later in a state of advanced putrefaction. She had been gagged and had a plastic bag tied around her head. The fetus was discovered in the woman’s underwear at the moment of undressing the body for autopsy. The advanced state of decomposition was a consequence of the heat and humidity of the environment in which the bodies were found.
Translation of captions from the Spanish:
Figure 1 : Detail of the upper part of the corpse of the woman in an advanced state of putrefaction with a piece of cloth inserted in the mouth (arrow).
Figure 3: Fetal parts and umbilical cord found inside the mother’s underwear.
Figure 4: Fetus with umbilical cord and placenta in an advanced state of decay.
[Wikipedia: Coffin Birth]
Gustave Dore “Harpies in the Forest of Suicides”
Canto XIII, Inferno, Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
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