It was the contraceptive device that was meant to stop his mum from becoming pregnant.

And a hilarious photo showing a newborn baby clutching a Mirena implant just moments after he was born has gone viral.

Yep, that's the coil that should have stopped his mum getting pregnant... https://t.co/pyqruCA1k5 pic.twitter.com/PWzej2ePl9 — The Sun (@TheSun) May 4, 2017

Lucy Hellein, from Texas, US, discovered she was pregnant in December despite being fitted with the implant four months earlier.

Last week, baby Dexter was born weighing 9lbs 1oz, and Lucy took to her Facebook page to announce the tot’s arrival into the world.

In in a cheeky image she showed Dexter holding up the implant, with the caption: “Mirena fail!”

The post went viral after being shared more than 70,000 times online.

Lucy told Metro.co.uk that she gave birth to Dexter by caesarean section and during the procedure, a surgeon searched for her Mirena device.

She claims they later found it stuck behind her placenta and also removed one of her Fallopian tubes.

Although Dexter was unplanned, Lucy told the website she can’t imagine life without him.

She explained: “Dexter was definitely meant to be. His original due date was May 4 and even the doctor said ‘the force was strong with this one’.

“Although he wasn’t planned, my family and I feel incredibly blessed.”

Mirena is a small plastic device that is implanted into the womb by a doctor and nurse and releases hormones into the body.

It thickens the lining of the womb making it difficult for sperm to reach and fertilise an egg.

This article first appeared on The Sun.