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Lucy Hellein did not expect that the photo of her newborn baby holding an intrauterine device (IUD) would become viral. She recently explained how that picture came to be.

Hellein Did Not Expect To Get Pregnant

Hellein delivered her baby, Dexter Tyler via Caesarian section on Apr. 27, which was a few days early of his original due date of May 4. She wasn't expecting to get pregnant with Dexter, as she had been using an IUD as a contraceptive and had her latest one inserted last Aug.

But to her surprise, she learned that she was 18 weeks pregnant in Dec. This confirmed her previous IUD's failure, Yahoo! News reported.

Baby Was Born Holding The IUD?

She further explained that people had misunderstood the picture she shared on her Facebook page (which has since been taken down), as her baby was delivered clutching on to the IUD. She was told by her doctor that the device was found behind the placenta.

Since the baby was the living proof that the device had failed her, a nurse placed the IUD in his hand, snapped a picture, and had it shared on social media, WTSP reported. The photo was reshared on Hellein's Instagram account.

How Does An IUD Work?

An intrauterine device is considered to be almost fool-proof in preventing unwanted pregnancies with over 99 percent success rate. The IUD is a very small, T-shaped device that is inserted into the uterus to prevent having a baby. But if and when the device does fail, it is mostly due to the device being moved or dislodged - or because it was inserted improperly.

Hellein was lucky that the fertilized egg was able to pass through to the uterus before the device took effect and did not result to an ectopic pregnancy. Hormonal IUDs like the one Hellein used usually takes up to seven days to start working if it is not inserted during the first seven days of a woman's period.

 My baby boy! Dexter Tyler 27 April 2017 @ 0840 9lbs 1oz 21.5in Mirena found behind my placenta ❤ #littlejedi #mirenababy #mirenafail #blessing #theforceisstrongwiththisone

A post shared by Lucy Hellein (@curlykittycrochet) on Apr 27, 2017 at 3:39pm PDT