1 out of 80,000 babies are born via this source, so no wonders to the fact several myths and superstitious surround a baby born en caul and even a caul birth. A Caul birth is rated to be as a sign of something special. Since it rates as something special it could be even frightening to a mother. But consider it as a harmless process of birth.
The caul is different from an en caul as the entire baby is submerged in the amniotic fluid. But still the babies born en caul superstition still did go on to exist. It was given the tag of a head helmet. This condition is also termed as born with a veil as it can be a piece of sac that would go on to break away from the process of gestation.
For some cultures being born with a caul means something special. The logic could appear from the rarity of the condition and a lot of stories have floated around caul birth in history. Let us go on to observe a few of them.
The midwives in Rome sold the cauls to the lawyers for a good deal of money. There was a general perception that if you had a caul with you chances of losing a case was remote. This logic extended to other countries of Europe. There were some cultures who were of the opinion that powered caul could go on to cure malaria. Suppose in the country of Dalmatia when you place the skull under the bed of someone it made their passing very easy. On the other hand in Belgium the caul would only be lucky if you placed it under a field. The coal miners did go on to carry cauls with them to ward off fire and even explosions.
Even in Great Britain they existed numerous myths about a caul. In the year 1889 a report in a British tabloid went on to state a miracle caul. A baby was born with a caul and it was placed on the side without any incident. After a few hours someone went on to pick up the caul and noticed Bible society and Britain written on it. The word spread all around the village that it was a holy miracle. Later on it emerged that when the doctor placed the caul on the side he placed on the bible in an accidental manner. No wonders it did go on to emerge as some form of divine intervention.
Some even felt that when you owned a caul it prevented you from drowning for the rest of your life. But this logic did exist till the point of time you had the possession of caul with you. There was an antecode in the year 1939 when a child went on to drown as soon as the woman threw the caul in water. As the possession of a caul meant that you were immune to drowning may cauls were sold to sailors for a good deal of money.