Baby declared dead found alive in coffin

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A mother in Argentina says she fell to her knees in shock after finding her baby alive in a coffin at the morgue, nearly 12 hours after the infant girl had been declared dead.

Analia Bouter named her newborn baby Luz Milagros, or "Miracle Light". The tiny girl, born three months premature, was in critical but improving condition on Wednesday in the same hospital where the staff pronounced her stillborn on April 3.

The case became public on Tuesday when Rafael Sabatinelli, the deputy health minister in the northern province of Chaco, announced at a news conference that five medical professionals involved had been suspended, pending an official investigation.

Bouter told TeleNoticias TV in an interview Tuesday night that doctors gave her the death certificate just 20 minutes after the baby was born, and that she still hadn't received a birth certificate for her tiny girl.

Bouter said the baby was quickly put in a coffin and taken to the morgue's refrigeration room. Twelve hours passed before she and her husband were able to open the coffin to say their last goodbyes.

That's when the baby trembled, she said. She thought it was her imagination, but then she realized that the little girl was alive and dropped to her knees on the morgue floor in shock.

A morgue worker quickly picked up the baby and confirmed she was alive. Then, Bouter's brother grabbed the baby and ran to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, shouting for the doctors.

The baby was so cold, Bouter said, that "it was like carrying a bottle of ice."

A week later, the baby is improving. Bouter said she still has many unanswered questions about what happened.

She said she gave birth normally to four other children and doesn't understand why doctors gave her general anesthesia this time. She said she also doesn't know why she wasn't allowed to see her baby before it was put into the coffin.

She says the family plans to sue the staff at Hospital Perrando, in the city of Resistencia, for malpractice, and they still want answers.

But for now, they've been focused on their little girl, who, she said, was amazingly healthy, despite being born after just 26 weeks of gestation. So far, the infant hasn't needed oxygen or other support.

（中國日報網英語點津 Julie 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.