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Dead baby revived, shocking doctors at Argentine clinic
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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In Argentina, a premature baby who was thought to be dead was placed in a refrigerated morgue. After 12 hours, the crying infant was noticed by the parents who returned to the morgue to take a photo of the child for a funeral ceremony. The newborn girl is currently in stable condition.
According to Ruth Fretts, an expert in stillbirths, the baby's mother was 26 weeks pregnant. During labor, she was given a sedative. Apparently, the anesthesia affected the baby (it was likely that his breathing was impaired). As a result, doctors at the Perrando de Resistencia hospital decided that the girl was dead, having found no signs of a heartbeat. Death was eventually pronounced.
As Fretts reports, in almost all developing countries, stillbirth rates are so high that doctors often do not fight for babies who are born prematurely. This leads to the horrific outcome of a living baby being mistaken for dead.
At the same time, the body of premature babies protects itself by producing stress hormones. This is what allowed the Argentine girl to survive. Although the hypothermia observed at birth misled medical workers.
At the moment, an internal investigation is being conducted at the hospital.