Miracle birth: Woman gives birth while asleep, wakes to find newborn under blanket

• Nurses discovered her newborn under a hospital blanket after being unable to detect the baby's heartbeat on the monitor.

• The baby was immediately stimulated, began crying and was confirmed to be healthy.

• Carolina Moreno gave birth while asleep during an induced labour after receiving an epidural.

• Moreno described the experience as deeply traumatic despite her son being born in perfect health.

A 27-year-old Canadian mother has shared the extraordinary story of how she unknowingly gave birth while asleep during labour, only to wake up and discover her newborn son lying beneath a hospital blanket.

The mother, Carolina Moreno, described the experience as one of the most traumatic moments of her life despite the baby being born healthy.

Moreno, a mother of three, recounted the unusual birth in a TikTok video that has since gone viral before speaking about the incident in an interview with People magazine.

According to Moreno, she was admitted to hospital for a planned induction after testing positive for Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a common bacterium that can be passed to a baby during childbirth. Doctors first administered antibiotics before breaking her water and inducing labour with Pitocin, a medication used to stimulate contractions.

She said the contractions became increasingly painful because the baby was not in an ideal position, prompting her to request an epidural.

Although the pain relief initially appeared ineffective, Moreno repeatedly pressed the patient-controlled epidural button for additional doses. Once the medication took effect, she became comfortable enough to fall asleep from exhaustion.

While she slept, nurses continued routine checks on the baby's heartbeat. Moreno explained that the fetal heart monitor alarm had gone off several times earlier because her baby was very active and frequently changed position, so neither she nor her family initially became concerned when nurses returned to adjust the monitor.

However, after medical staff were unable to detect the baby's heartbeat for several minutes, the situation became increasingly worrying.

Moreno said the nurse asked her to roll onto her back while continuing to search for the baby's heartbeat.

"When I turn on my back, her hands are still on my stomach, and that's when she points out that my stomach feels really weird," Moreno recalled.

"In that moment, I just thought my baby's dead."

As she adjusted her legs, Moreno felt something beneath the blanket but assumed it was her placenta. Instead, the nurse lifted the covers and discovered that her baby had already been born.

The newborn was lying face down under the blanket, silent and not crying.

"He was face down. He wasn't crying, and I just panicked," Moreno said, adding that she feared he had died after spending several minutes beneath the blankets unnoticed.

The nurse immediately picked up the baby, stimulated him until he cried and confirmed that he was breathing normally.

Moreno said the incident was so unexpected that even her husband believed he had simply missed the delivery, only to realise that everyone in the room had.

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Reflecting on the experience, Moreno explained that her son had effectively delivered himself while she was asleep, leaving both her family and medical staff unaware that the birth had already taken place.

"The nurse didn't deliver him; he delivered himself. We had no idea he was even out, which is actually what made it so scary at first since they couldn't find his heartbeat because he wasn't in me anymore," she told People.

Now three months old, Moreno said her son is healthy, thriving and has turned out to be the calmest of her three children.

"He's absolutely amazing and was born in perfect health. He's also our easiest baby," she said.