Viral Birth Photos Show Stunning (But Totally Normal!) Molding That Can Happen to a Newborn’s Head

Birth photographer Kayla Reeder has captured the sheer beauty and wonder of a “conehead baby” in her magnificent baby photos. And it’s no surprise that her gorgeous snaps have gone mega-viral.

For those not familiar, a “conehead baby” is a totally normal occurrence during a vaginal birth delivery when the process molds the baby’s head into a cone shape. But Reeder’s pictures show just how extreme this molding can be in some cases, such as that of mom Nikki, who birth to a little boy named Graham.

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“The molding on Graham’s head was extra dramatic because of his position,” Reeder said. “His head was tilted a bit to the side so the molding isn’t centered and it caused his mama to push for a bit longer than if he would have been in a better position.”

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If you’ve ever wondered why this happens to some babies, it has a lot to do with the fact that newborns don’t have fully formed skulls just yet. The little bundles of joy have plates joined together by fibrous material called sutures, which allow them to squeeze through the birth canal when they’re ready to say hello to the world. They also have a few soft spots on their heads, where the bones haven’t fused together just yet.

Occasionally, babies can have a slightly uneven head shape if they rest their heads in the same position all the time, due to their malleable heads at the beginning of life. But for little Graham, he bounced right back.

Reeder said, “Soon after birth the molding went down and by few days old he had a perfectly shaped head.”

Congratulations to Nikki and the birth of her beautiful Graham! We wish her only the best.

h/t IFLScience.com

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