# Anal childbirth - real or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317 "2003-09-13T00:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/21 "2003-09-13T06:08:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smiling bandit \* > \*\*That would still involve massive trauma to the internal body structure. there are BONES in between there, you know. For this even to be possible, there’d have to be awesomely freaky changes in the body. \*\* Hate to break this to you but…no bones between the vagina and the rectum. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/22 "2003-09-13T06:26:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cyn \* > \*\*Cyn, OB/GYN RN checking in… > …babies exploding through the vagina and tearing out the anus. \*\* And here I sit all out of brain bleach… ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/23 "2003-09-13T06:27:32Z")
Ectopic pregnancies in the abdominal cavity can go full term. But of course there is normally no way for the baby to get out through the anus. There have been at least [two cases](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8690872&dopt=Abstract) of such babies being delivered alive (presumably through a surgical incision). Both babies died shortly after birth. Then there’s the [case](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10442329&dopt=Abstract)of a woman who had a fetal skeleton inside her abdomen for 37 years. ---
**Author:** ![st1d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@st1d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/st1d)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/24 "2003-09-13T07:22:58Z")
I know, no jokes, but would that explain my sh\*t-eatin’ grin? Seriously, I think the bacterial tear would be major news/worries, and that daily “movements” would hamper the ability of the fetus to adhere to/grow inside the “anal area”. Chemical/biological/and simple physical circumstances would seem to indicate that any successful pregnancy/birth this way was fanciful. ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/25 "2003-09-13T14:23:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cyn \* > **Cyn, OB/GYN RN checking in… > …I’ve heard stories of anal-vaginal fistulas rupturing and babies exploding through the vagina and tearing out the anus. I’ll ask if any of them have actually seen this happen and where it’s documented. The baby is traveling through the vagina, the vagina fails and the perineum fails and the rectum is breeched.** :eek: I’m really sorry that I don’t have anything to add to this discussion, but it looks like I’m NEVER getting pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![pezpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@pezpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezpunk)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/26 "2003-09-13T14:58:52Z")
Is it possible that you are thinking of the following intance? Pregnant lady is in labor, has the unignorable need to go to the bathroom (#2) and when she pushes to release said dookie, she actually pushes the baby out of her hoo-hoo?\*\*\* I am not 100% sure if this is fact or urban legend but I have heard the story of babies born into toilets. [sub]\*\*\*disclaimer: terms used in scenario are NOT actaully clinical terms :)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/27 "2003-09-13T16:46:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Askia \* > \*\*“If you think you so great, just remember this – > All of us were born between shit and piss.” > –sage insight from my uncle’s Hustler collection \*\* You must remember this, You’re born twix shit and piss. Now I’ll have that song in my head all day. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/28 "2003-09-13T19:15:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lilbtagna \* > :eek: > > I’m really sorry that I don’t have anything to add to this discussion, but it looks like I’m NEVER getting pregnant. Little too late for me _shudders_ I don’t think I should read these threads anymore ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/29 "2003-09-13T19:39:48Z")
Obstetric fistulas do occur, where a breach in the wall that separates the vagina and the anus causes that wall to collapse. The result isn’t necessarily a child born via the anus _instead_ of the vagina, but an unexperienced person might believe that was what they were seeing. Afterwards, the woman is severely medically impaired. It is not a joking matter. **However** , before anyone freaks out, it should be known that in this era, obstetric fistulas are so rare in the developed world that any woman who experienced one would become the subject of intense medical scrutiny. They are, unfortunately, more common in “third” world countries. There is a [hospital dedicated solely to treating women who have experienced this awful condition](http://www.fistulahospital.org/) and helping them get their lives back. (If you’ve got a few pennies to spare, this is definitely a worthy cause.) ---
**Author:** ![Guybud5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Guybud5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guybud5)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/30 "2003-09-13T22:12:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elmwood \* > \*\*_Here I sit > Cheeks a flexin’ > Giving birth to > Another Texan_ > > 😃 \*\* From a Sing store bathrom stall, on HWY-27 in Tallahassee, FL Here I sit Just a shittian, givin birth to Another Floridian. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Lu\_abu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@An\_Lu\_abu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Lu_abu)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/31 "2003-09-13T22:33:04Z")
as I recall, the NY times ran an article last year which upset me grealty. Apparently obstetric fistulae are very common in the third world and the Bush administration had decided to cut funding to hospitals devoted to remedying this problem. With obstetric fistulae, women become incontinent post childbirth. The article contained graphic detail on how these women had to wrap themselves in towels, or strap containers onto themselves to retain waste. In many cases they were immediately divorced by their husbands. It was one of the most upsetting articles I have ever read. No joke. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/32 "2003-09-14T01:00:57Z")
It’s the only logical explaination for Kenny G ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/33 "2003-09-14T12:31:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bibliophage \* > Then there’s the [case](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10442329&dopt=Abstract)of a woman who had a fetal skeleton inside her abdomen for 37 years. This is slipping OT and it’s hardly an example from the contemporary literature, but Pierre Boaistuau’s _Histoires Prodigieuses_ from 1560 reports a case where a woman had a baby die during childbirth without being delivered. Despite the risks of the procedure, after _five years of effectively being pregnant at full term_ she insisted on surgery to remove the fetus. She lived to have further children. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317/34 "2003-09-14T12:36:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vl\_mungo \* > \*\*It’s the only logical explaination for Kenny G \*\* You’ve put ‘logical’ and ‘Kenny G’ in the one sentence. I reckon that is a candidate for GoogleWhacking. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-childbirth-real-or-not/201317.md?page=1)