Imagine that you’re in a cold dark morgue in the middle of the night, surrounded by the bodies of the murdered and the deceased. It is quiet, and there aren’t much to see. You are minding your business when suddenly a gasping noise breaks the silence.
What would you do?
This brave morgue worker in China did what none of us would have done: check to find out where the noise came from.
READ: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: SIDS causes and tips for prevention
What he discovered confounded him: the body of a dead baby he was supposed to cremate began showing signs of life, jerking its tiny fingers and moaning.
The day before, the baby had been declared dead and spent 15 hours in the morgue. But finding the child alive, the crematorium notified the father and they brought it was rushed to a hospital intensive care unit.
It’s the first time I’ve seen this,” said a doctor at the Pan’an hospital where the infant was born prematurely in January. “It’s a true miracle.”
After 23 days in an incubator, the baby was taken home by his father who wanted him there for the start of the Lunar New Year. But the baby didn’t survive until then, dying days before the celebrations.
The doctors attributed the baby’s survival to the father’s decision to wrap his son in two layers of clothing and a thick bag, because the temperature at the morgue was about -12 degrees Celsius.
Premature birth
The baby’s chances for survival was low to begin with, doctors said. This was because he was born premature.
The trend of preterm birth is on the rise. Teenage pregnancies and increasing trend of smoking and drinking habits among woman in their reproductive age contribute sizeably to the number of preterm births.
It is crucial that women in the reproductive age should be educated on the possibility of preterm labor and advised on appropriate antenatal care when they conceive.
Not only that, they should start living healthy lifestyles, whether or not they are planning to conceive, not only for their babies but for themselves.
If you have any insights, questions or comments regarding the topic, please share them in our Comment box below.
