A new mother has gone viral after sharing a video of her giving birth to her son in the Pacific Ocean.

Josy Peukert, 37, uploaded a post on Instagram showing how she and her partner, Benni Cornelius, 42, drove to the beach so she could have her baby on the shoreline of Playa Majagual, Nicaragua.

She delivered her baby without medical assistance in a so-called ‘free birth’, after turning down scans throughout her pregnancy.

The video of waves crashing into her back as she writhes in pain through contractions has been watched over 200,000 times.

Josy said: ‘The waves had the same rhythm as the contractions, that smooth flow made me feel really good.’

There are no available statistics for how many freebirths take place around the world each year, however the number is believed to be small but growing.

The process is fraught with controversy, after a California woman’s baby was stillborn in 2018 following a six-day labor with no medical intervention.

Explainng her decision, Josy said: ‘I got this idea in my head I wanted to give birth in the ocean and because the conditions were right on the day that’s what I did.’

When Josy knew her labour was starting, her children went to stay with friends and Benni drove the couple to the beach with a birthing tool kit which included towels, a bowl with a sieve to catch the placenta, gauze and paper towels.

‘Later that evening we weighed Bodhi with luggage scales, he was 3.5kg or 7lb 6oz.’

The mother-of-four says she wanted her baby to be born with no medical intervention because doctors and midwives take away from what the female body can do on its own.

She said: ‘I wanted to be worry-free for once.

‘My first birth was traumatic in a clinic and my second birth was a home birth but by the third even a midwife in my home was too much.

‘This time I had no doctors appointments or scans or outside influence.

Healthy boy: After the baby boy was born they weighed Bodhi with luggage scales, he was 3.5kg or 7lb 6oz

Josy gave birth to a baby boy, Bodhi Amor Ocean Cornelius, on 27 February 2022. He is now 13 weeks old

Josy said the waves had the same rhythm as the contractions and that made her ‘feel really good’

Free birth: She said she had ‘no fears or worries’ just herself her partner and the waves. It was beautiful

‘We didn’t have a due date or deadline for the baby to arrive we just trusted that our baby would make its way.

‘I had no fears or worries to welcome a new little soul into our lives, just me, my partner and the waves. It was beautiful.

‘The soft volcanic sand under me reminded me there is nothing else between heaven and earth just life.’

Josy gave birth to a baby boy, Bodhi Amor Ocean Cornelius, on 27 February 2022. He is now 13 weeks old.

When Josy knew her labour was starting, her children went to stay with friends and Benni (pictured) drove the couple to the beach