You might have seen this image pop up on your newsfeed - a newborn baby, face all crinkled up and red, and clutching the intrauterine device (IUD) (that was supposed to prevent his conception) clutched tightly in one fist.
"Could this actually happen?", you must wonder. After all, what are the chances that an IUD will slip out of place and end up in the baby's hand? We'll get to there soon enough. But first, here's the leadup to this photograph.
Lucy Hellein from Alabama, USA was already mom to two kids when she got a Mirena IUD inserted for obvious reasons, last August. But in December, she found out she was four months pregnant!
What are the chances?
As a way of birth control, IUDs are pretty effective - 99% to be precise. Lucy happened to be within the 1% for whom the device was not so effective.
According to clinical professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Yale University, Mary Jane Minkin, IUD failures can happen, even though they are rare.
She explains that if a woman has a Mirena inserted, she can still ovulate, but what happens is the device makes the uterine environment very hostile to sperm with the progestin it contains. Progestin also thins the uterine lining, making conception even harder.
After the pregnancy was detected, Lucy says the IUD was nowhere to be seen on the ultrasound. However, during her C-section, the doctor discovered the device 'hiding' behind her placenta. The speculation is that is somehow got dislodged into the lower part of Lucy's uterus.
That photograph!
So was little Dexter Tyler actually born clutching the Mirena? We did a little investigation of our own and discovered that this was not the case. The little man was simply posing for a photo with the IUD clutched in his fist - and we think he looks super cute doing so!
Mommy said, "Dexter was definitely meant to be. His original due date was May 4th and even the doctor said ‘the force was strong with this one. Although he wasn’t planned, my family and I feel incredibly blessed."
However, to be on the safe side, Lucy did shut down her baby-making factory after Dexter's birth by requesting for her fallopian tubes to be tied!
Meanwhile, if you are using an IUD as a way of birth control and are worried that it might dislodge as it did in Lucy's case, stop fretting right now.
Experts assure you that it is a very effective birth control mechanism and the chances of it failing are really slim.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this article. Have you had any birth control 'slips'? Tell us about it in a comment below!
WATCH: What really happens in a gentle C-section?
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