Macabre discovery: a young woman gives birth to her baby in a coffin after her death | the Chronicle

A group of archaeologists made a shocking discovery in the Finnish town of Vihti, because when they investigated a private chapel and a 4 x 4 meter burial chamber below, they found the corpse of a young girl and with it a fetus of a newborn, who then understood that was born in the coffin.

The chapel, which was built in 1785, was the local burial site from that year until 1829, and during research by the University of Oulo, experts discovered eight coffins and the remains of a possible ninth, explains an article from the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.

When they opened, they discovered in the tombs the remains – some of them were mummified – of three men, an old woman, three adult women and a young woman, reports the site. RT.

The surprise came when in the pelvic cavity of one of the adult women, scientists discovered the skull of a fetus protruding from the birth canal.

What is the scientific explanation?

The archaeologists (led by Tiina Vare) interpreted the finding as a case of “Partial fetal extrusion ‘post mortem’, as the process was probably interrupted by the decelerated decomposition of maternal remains before the complete expulsion of the fetus” indicates the summary of the study.

The researchers concluded that the mother died during the first trimester of the pregnancy, from the condition “Underdeveloped fetal remains”, highlights the site.

According to church records, the mother’s name was Charlotte björnram and died on October 23, 1808 at the age of 24. According to the same documents analyzed, the woman’s cause of death was a inflammation.

Experts believe that the posthumous extrusion of the fetus occurred a few days after the woman’s death and was caused by the decomposition of her body and the effects of gases generated in the abdominal cavity.