Bizarre! Pregnant woman gave `coffin birth` after she was buried

New Delhi: In a bizarre case, a team of archaeologists have discovered skeletal remains of a woman with a hole in her skull and bones of fetus lying between her legs, reportedly. The well-preserved remains were found in Imola, Italy in 2010.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, researchers from the Universities of Ferrara and Bologna said the duo can represent an unusual case of ‘coffin birth’ after having a closer look. They also said that the child’s leg bones possibly never made it out of the pelvic cavity, however, the upper torso and head likely did, as though the fetus was partially delivered.

Researchers found the woman to be aged between 25 to 35 years and 38 weeks pregnant when she was buried. It reportedly dates back to 7th or 8th century AD.

As per the report, researchers believed that the hole drilled in the centre of the woman's skull was caused by trepanation, an old medical practice to treat all sorts of ailments by drilling or cutting into the skull. They say that the bone even showed signs of healing, indicating the woman survived at least a week after the procedure was done.

Researchers say that the discovery of both trepanation and coffin birth in the same set of remains is incredibly rare.

Coffin birth takes place when a deceased pregnant woman's fetus is expelled within the grave.

The study has been published in the journal World Neurosurgery.