Friday, August 27, 2010

Mother's Cuddle Brings Baby "Back to Life"

An Australian woman tells how she resuscitated her premature baby son with cuddles, two hours after doctors had declared him dead.


Baby Jamie showed no signs of life when he was delivered along with a twin sister, Emily, at just 27 weeks gestation and weighing 2lb at a hospital in Sydney, Australia.

Doctors said they had lost him and he was given to his mother, Kate, who unwrapped his blankets and placed him on her chest so she and her husband, David, could say their goodbyes.

Following two hours of cuddling and being spoken to by his parents, Jamie began to gasp. Doctors initially claimed it was a "reflex" but the baby began gasping more often and then opened his eyes.

The family have spoken of their experience for the first time since Jamie was born five months ago. They told of the importance of "skin-to-skin" bonding between mother and baby in a technique also known as the "kangaroo touch" in Australia because of the way the animals held their newborns close to the skin in their pouch.

Read the full story by Rebecca Smith on Telegraph.co.uk: Mother's Cuddle Brings Baby Back to Life