Baby Born on Island That Has 'Ban' on Childbirth

It lies 230 miles off the coast of Brazil, making Fernando de Noronha a fairly isolated island—so much so that women who become pregnant there are told to go to the mainland to give birth. So amidst what the BBC terms a "ban" on childbirth comes a surprise: a baby, the first born on the island in 12 years. The AFP reports the unnamed mother had previously given birth on the mainland, but told O Globo she was unaware of this pregnancy, as she "didn't feel anything."

"On Friday night I had pains and when I went to the bathroom I saw something coming down between my legs. That’s when the child’s father came and picked it up. It was a baby, a girl. I was dumbstruck," she says. The BBC reports the baby was taken to the hospital—which has no maternity ward. (More childbirth stories.)