Just imagine the shock an unnamed funeral director from Brazil felt when he was about to bury a five month old baby declared stillborn to be breathing and alive.
Faithwire reported that the "unimaginable" and "bizarre situation" happened in Brazil's northern state of Rondonia on December 27. The baby's mother, an 18-year-old woman, went to the local hospital twice on complaints of not feeling well due to severe pains. Allegedly, the woman was not aware she was pregnant.
According to the Mirror, the woman went home on both occasions. Her family said the medics did not notice she was pregnant and asked her to go home. The woman's pain increased when she arrived home and eventually delivered the baby on her own. The premature baby weighed 1 kg and was rushed to the hospital by the woman but was declared by the doctors as stillborn upon arrival, which was indicated in the death certificate.
The hospital then arranged for the funeral director to come to the hospital to prepare for the burial. The funeral director took the newborn at 3 a.m. Tuesday and, hours later, was shocked at what he discovered.
"A few hours later, while he was carrying out the procedures for the burial, he noticed that the baby sighed and that its heart was beating," the Mirror said.
Immediately, the funeral director returned to the hospital so that the baby would be given medical attention. The newborn was then admitted to the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit but no word has been given thereafter on the baby's current health status. The family has filed a police report on the matter and an investigation is in progress.
Reacting to the incident, international pro-life group Live Action raised it is not an isolated case. It cited several similar cases in the past and underscored that many healthcare providers "refuse" to care for premature babies.
"Though many hospitals and doctors refuse to provide care for premature babies born before a predetermined gestational age--such as 24 weeks in some hospitals in the United States--babies born as young as 21 weeks have survived and thrived with proper and immediate medical care," the pro-life group said in a news release.
One of the cases cited by Live Action involved a premature baby girl from Argentina who was declared stillborn in 2012. The 26 week-old baby was discovered alive "12 hours after her birth" by her parents who where told they could see her already in the morgue. The baby was named Luz Milagros, which meant "Miracle Light," by her parents.
Sadly, Luz died after her first birthday due to sepsis and neurological issues. Argentina Secretary of Health Leonardo Caruana said Luz suffered "multiorgan failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation, which then led to shock."
Another case involved a premature baby boy born in Mexico on October 2020 at 23 weeks. The baby, named Jesus Sebastian, was taken to the morgue after being declared dead. However, he was found crying and moving in the morgue's refrigerator six hours later. He eventually died four days later.
Faithwire, on the other hand, raised that even babies born 21 weeks and one day have been reported to live, such as that of Guinness World Records' baby Curtis.
Last November, Christianity Daily reported that Curtis Zy-Keith broke the world record for being the youngest surviving premature baby. Curtis was born at less than a pound on July 5, 2020 with his twin sister, C'Asya Means who died the day after. The twins are said to be 132 days or 19 weeks premature.
