'Miracle' baby found alive after 12 hours in morgue

A baby found alive in a coffin in an Argentine morgue nearly 12 hours after she had been declared dead was improving \u2014 but the hospital responsible for the near-fatal mistake faced serious questions.

The mother, Anal\u00eda Bouter, said she fell to her knees in shock when she found her baby alive in the coffin. She named her newborn Luz Milagros \u2014 "Miracle Light." The tiny girl, born three months premature, was in critical but improving condition in the same hospital, the Perrando Hospital in Resistencia, Chaco province, where staff had pronounced her stillborn on April 3.

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

Bouter told the TeleNoticias TV channel that doctors handed her the death certificate just 20 minutes after the baby was born \u2014 and that she still had not received a birth certificate. The baby was quickly placed in a coffin and taken to the morgue's refrigeration room. Twelve hours passed before Bouter and her husband were allowed to open the coffin to say their last goodbyes.

That was when the baby trembled. Bouter thought at first it was her imagination. Then the tiny girl let out a cry \u2014 and was rushed back into care.

Doctors later said the premature infant had likely shown no detectable heartbeat when examined at birth, and that the cold of the morgue may paradoxically have protected her. Whatever the physiology, a grieving mother walked into a morgue and walked out with a daughter named for the miracle she had just witnessed.

A baby found alive in a coffin in an Argentine morgue nearly 12 hours after the girl had been declared dead is improving, but questions remain for the hospital responsible for the near-fatal mistake.

The mother, Analia Bouter, says she fell to her knees in shock after finding her baby alive in a coffin.

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

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

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

'Stillborn' Baby Found Alive in Morgue

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.

She said that's when the baby trembled. She thought it was her imagination