Postmortem Delivery – A Case Report

It has been a quarter century since the term coffin birth appeared in the medical literature. It happens when a pregnant woman spontaneously delivers her child after her own death. The gases that builds up in her decomposing body can built up enough pressure to propel the fetus through the birth canal. This odd occurrence has taken place through out history, albeit rarely. Today modern embalming customs have made coffin birth so rare. The rare case is discussed in this paper.