Mother finds baby alive after 12 hours in mortuary

An ARGENTINE woman who insisted on seeing the presumably lifeless body of her premature baby found the infant alive in the drawer of a mortuary.

Authorities yesterday said the girl had spent 12 hours in the refrigerated room at the Perrando de Resistencia hospital in northern Argentina.

Analia Bouguet told Todo Noticias television that she thought she was hallucinating when she looked at her infant in the mortuary drawer and heard a whimper and saw signs of life.

Doctors say the girl is now in good condition.

The girl was born on 3 April after just six months of pregnancy, and the hospital issued a death certificate, saying she died of unknown causes, Ms Bouguet said.

She said doctors told her that “nobody knows how she could have survived 12 hours in a refrigerated room.”

Rafael Sabatinelli, the deputy health secretary of Chaco province where the hospital is located, said authorities were looking into those who were involved in the incident.

The girl has been named Luz Milagros, or “Miracle Light”. She was in critical but improving condition yesterday in the same hospital.

The case became public on Tuesday when the deputy provincial health minister announced that five medical professionals had been suspended pending an official investigation.

The child’s mother said she still just has a death certificate, not a birth certificate, and plans to sue the hospital.

She said: “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.”