This proud new mom is making a splash online — and in the water — after filming herself delivering her baby in the waves of the Pacific Ocean.
Josy Peukert posted her original Instagram video back in February, but it’s just now blowing up to the tune of 200,000-plus viral views thanks to social media word of mouth spreading.
The 27-year-old’s unconventional water birth has resulted in commenters alternately hailing her as “empowering” and “endangering,” but she dives right in while explaining her motivation.
“Because the conditions were right on the day — that’s what I did,” Peukert told Jam Press of her special delivery, which went down off the sandy shore of Playa Majagua, Nicaragua.
The wannabe mama mermaid said she was inspired to do a “free birth” — unassisted childbirth — in the sea because she wanted to show what the female body could do on its own, sans traditional medical intervention.
“I got this idea in my head I wanted to give birth in the ocean,” explained Peukert, who moved to Nicaragua from Germany. “For weeks I monitored the tide, and so when the time was right for me to give birth I knew the beach would be safe for us.”
When she finally went into labor on Feb. 27, Peukert’s existing children went to stay with friends, while her husband Benni Cornelius, 42, drove her to the beach with towels, gauze and a bowl with a “sieve to catch the placenta.”
That’s when the maritime magic occurred.
In the 50-second video embedded above, the mother can be seen kneeling in the surf as she undergoes her contractions. The footage then cuts to after the delivery, showing the overjoyed mother in the water clutching her newborn baby, which still has its umbilical cord attached.
“The waves had the same rhythm as the contractions, that smooth flow made me feel really good,” Peukert described of the sea-natal episode. “The soft volcanic sand under me reminded me there is nothing else between heaven and earth just life.”
The nautical nurturer added, “I had no fears or worries to welcome a new little soul into our lives, just me, my partner and the waves. It was beautiful.”
After giving birth to her son — fittingly named Bodhi Amor Ocean Cornelius — the happy couple drove home and weighed the child, who clocked in at 7 pounds 6 ounces.
Along with the presumed symbolism of giving birth where life originated, Peukert wanted to avoid previous traumatic experiences she had giving birth at the hospital.
“My first birth was traumatic in a clinic and my second birth was a home birth but by the third even a midwife in my home was too much,” lamented Peukert, who has seven children with her husband. “This time I had no doctors appointments or scans or outside influence.
She added, “We didn’t have a due date or deadline for the baby to arrive we just trusted that our baby would make its way.”
And Peukert claims that the saltwater-birth has paid dividends as Bodhi is a “really calm and satisfied baby.”
“Everything is wonderful for him if he is in mama’s arms,” she gushed. “He is just as relaxed as he was in my tummy.”
Her unconventional birthing method was praised by many commenters with one Instagram fan writing: “What a legend, what a mother, what a lucky boy! Pure nature is all you need.”
“All I keep thinking is how much that salt water will help with healing — congratulations,” said another.
Other supporters called her decision “so empowering.”
However, some social media watchdogs worried about the safety of Peukert’s method of bringing her baby into the world.
“Is this sanitary? There’s a lot of bacteria in the sea,” wondered one skeptic, while another wrote, “What a shock for that bubba – from a warm womb to the cold ocean.”
However, Peukert dismissed critics, explaining, “Bodhi was born in the midday sun when it was about 35 degrees, we weren’t worried at all that he’d be cold and I had no concerns about waterborne infections.”
“He is perfectly healthy,” explained Peukert, who emigrated to Nicaragua from Germany right after meeting her partner. “I did all the research I needed to to make sure it was safer. Water is a barrier that is medically proven.”
The current medical consensus is that there isn’t enough info to determine the safety of a water birth, WebMD reported. Meanwhile, prenatal experts advise against giving birth without a midwife or doctor present, as it endangers the lives of both mother and child.
Despite the potential hazards, non-hospital births spiked by 77% from 2004 to 2017 with experts blaming social media pseudoscientists for facilitating the trend, Parents.com reported. The number of free births also spiked during the pandemic as expectant mothers avoided going to the hospital for fear of contracting COVID-19.
In a similar oceanic delivery in 2018, a woman was snapped giving birth to her baby underwater in the Red Sea.
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