Picture of newborn clutching IUD goes viral

The picture, taken by doctors at Hai Phong International Hospital on Tuesday, showed a newborn with his eyes closed, holding an intrauterine device (IUD). Upon its upload to the hospital’s own social network, the image received over 3,000 likes alongside more than 7,000 comments and shares.

When the boy was born, the device came out with him and he grabbed it, said Tran Viet Phuong, head of the hospital’s second obstetrics department.

"After delivery, I thought him holding the device was interesting, so I took a picture. I never thought it would receive so much attention," Phuong said.

A baby boy holds an IUD after being born at Hai Phong International Hospital in Hai Phong City, June 30, 2020. Photo courtesy of Hai Phong International Hospital.

Doctors said his 34-year-old mother had given birth twice before. Two years prior, she inserted the intrauterine device into her uterus at a local hospital. She later discovered that a five-week-old fetus had formed in her womb, at the location of the device.

She gave birth to the healthy baby boy, who weighs 3.2 kg, on Tuesday morning. Both mother and child are being monitored at the hospital.

An intrauterine device works as a birth control implement by not allowing sperm to fertilize an egg.

But it does not have a 100 percent success rate, said Phuong. Upon its insertion, the device might have been moved from its original position and thus was no longer effective, he added.