'I fell to my knees when I saw her': Mother finds 'stillborn' baby ALIVE in morgue 12 hours after she was pronounced dead

By Nina Golgowski and Matt Roper


A 'stillborn' baby was found alive in a drawer in a hospital morgue by her distressed mother 12 hours after the girl was declared dead, it emerged today.

Analia Bouter was 26 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to her fifth child prematurely at a hospital in Resistencia, in Argentina's northern Chaco province.

But after medical staff told her that the infant was born with no vital signs, her distraught parents went home with a death certificate.

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Analía Bouter of Argentina said she fell to her knees when she discovered her 'stillborn' daughter alive in a morgue drawer

Twelve hours later, Mrs Bouter and her husband decided to go to see their baby's body, which was being kept in a refrigerated drawer at the Perrando hospital morgue.

She told Argentina's Clarin newspaper: ‘That night, we went to the morgue. We wanted to take a photo of our daughter.

'But when a worker opened the drawer, we heard a cry and she was alive.’

She said she ‘stepped back and fell to my knees’ after she ‘saw her stretching,' the mother added.

‘My baby was born at 10.24am and at 11.05am was already in the drawer. She spent 12 hours in the freezing cold of that morgue. I saw for myself the ice on her body.’

Mrs Bouter said that her pregnancy was normal until she suddenly went into early labour on April 3.

Miracle: The infant born about three months premature (file photo) was found alive and well though extremely cold after laying in the morgue's freezer for 12 hours

She said: ‘At first the doctors said that she was born dead, then said she had died shortly after birth because she was too small to survive.

‘I don't know who is to blame, and I'm not thinking about it at this moment. The joy of knowing she's alive is covering every other feeling. I'm a Christian, and I believe this was a miracle of God.’

And she said that her daughter is ‘getting stronger by the minute’.

The parents, who were going to call their daughter Luciana Abigail, said she will now be baptised Luz Milagros, which means Light Miracles.

Meanwhile, the Perrando hospital has suspended the medical staff involved in the birth while they conduct an investigation.

The hospital's director Jose Luis Meirino said: ‘At the moment we have no explanation.

'The baby was attended to by obstetricians, gynaecologists and a neonatologist. They all reached the same conclusion, that this girl was stillborn.’

He said that hypothermia may have caused the baby to go into a type of hibernation, causing her vital signs to vanish completely.

Rafael Sabatinelli, health secretary for Argentina's Chaco province, called the case ‘disgraceful’ and promised a full investigation.

He said: ‘Every member of the team that was involved has some responsibility, so they will have to answer for this.’




source:dailymail