Miracle mum brings premature baby son back to life with two hours of loving cuddles after doctors pronounce him dead

Miracle mum brings premature baby son back to life with two hours of loving cuddles after doctors pronounce him deadBy Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 1:23 PM on 26th August 2010
Comments (354) Add to My Stories
She cradled baby after being told to 'say her goodbyes'
An Australian mother has told how her touch brought her 'dead' baby back to life.
Doctors gave tiny Jamie Ogg no chance of survival when he was born prematurely at 27 weeks weighing just 2lb.
His twin sister Emily had survived but after battling for 20 minutes to get him to breathe Jamie was declared dead.
He was then handed to his mother Kate so she and her partner David could grieve and say their goodbyes.
Awful moment: Kate and David clasp each other and their son Jamie, circled, after being told he did not survive the birth. They were given the child to say their goodbyes but then, miraculously, two hours later he began to show signs of life


Signs of life: A smiling Kate holds Jamie after it becomes clear that her son is going to survive
WHAT EXACTLY IS 'KANGAROO CARE'?
'Kangaroo care' is a technique which is being promoted at an increasing number of hospitals in this country, and is based on skin-to-skin contact between a newborn and a parent or even siblings. The idea behind the technique - which takes its name after the way kangaroos hold their young in a pouch next to their bodies - is that the mothers became a human incubator, keeping the baby warm, stimulated and fed. Pre-term and low birth-weight babies treated this way have also been shown to have lower infection rates, less severe illness, improved sleep patterns and are at reduced risk of hypothermia.
But after two hours of being spoken to, touched cuddled and held by his mother he miraculously began showing signs of life.
Then after being given breast milk on his mother's finger, he began breathing regularly.
Kate, who gave birth after a three-hour labour in March, has spoken of how vital 'skin-on-skin' care can be for a sick baby, or 'kangaroo touch' as it is known in Australia. 'Skin-on-skin' care is when the child is laid on the mother.
Normally, premature babies are sent to intensive care and she was only given her son to hold because he was thought to have died.
Telling how the drama unfolded at a hospital in Sydney, she said: 'The doctor asked me after the birth had we chosen a name for our son.
'I said, "Jamie", and he turned around with my son already wrapped up and said, "We've lost Jamie, he didn't make it, sorry."
'It was the worse feeling I've ever felt. I unwrapped Jamie from his blanket.
'He was very limp. His little arms and legs were just falling down away from his body.
Proud mum: Kate with son Jamie when they appeared on Australian TVl. The boy was born prematurely with twin sister Emily at 27 weeks

Sweet slumber: Five-month-old Jamie sleeps in his mother's arms as she gives an account of his remarkable survival
'I took my gown off and arranged him on my chest with his head over my arm and just held him.
'He started gasping more and more regularly. I thought, "Oh my God, what's going on?" A short time later he opened his eyes. It was a miracle'
'He wasn't moving at all and we just started talking to him. We told him what his name was and that he had a sister.
'We told him the things we wanted to do with him throughout his life.'
Jamie occasionally gasped for air, which doctors said was a reflex action.
She added: 'After just five minutes I felt him move as if he were startled, then he started gasping more and more regularly.
'I thought, "Oh my God, what's going on?" A short time later he opened his eyes. It was a miracle.
'I told my mum, who was there, that he was still alive. Then he held out his hand and grabbed my finger.
'He opened his eyes and moved his head from side to side.'
All smiles: It was after Kate gave her son some of her breast milk on her finger that he began breathing regularly
She said they passed on a message to their doctor insisting Jamie was showing signs of life, but he sent back a midwife with the reply that they were just natural reflexes and that there was no possible way he could still be alive.
Kate then said to her husband, 'What if he lives?'
She added: 'I was like, "We could be the luckiest parents in the world".
'I gave Jamie some breast milk on my finger, he took it and started regular breathing.
'At that point the doctor came back. He got a stethoscope, listened to Jamie's chest and just kept shaking his head.
'He said, "I don't believe it, I don't believe it".'
David, speaking to the Australian TV show Today Tonight, said: 'Luckily, I've got a very strong, very smart wife.
'She instinctively did what she did. If she hadn't have done that, then Jamie probably wouldn't be here.'
The doctor who delivered Jamie refused to be interviewed for the TV show.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1306283/Miracle-premature-baby-declared-dead-doctors-revived-mothers-touch.html#ixzz0xjkGjb2p