Newborn Dies In Hospital A Day After She Was Found Alive At Her Funeral

A newborn child who had already been pronounced dead at a hospital was found alive during her own funeral, authorities have said. However, she died in less than 24 hours.

Pilaventhira Raja and Fathima Mary, the parents of the now-deceased child, from Theni, a city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, were told by doctors that their baby was stillborn Sunday. The hospital handed over the child and the family took her "body" for burial.

At the burial ground, some relatives noticed movements in the infant. The baby was then rushed back to the hospital, where she was immediately put on ventilator support. She was also placed under constant monitoring. However, the child died Monday morning, a day after she was first pronounced dead, reported The Hindu.

Mary, who was around seven months pregnant, was brought to the hospital for her third delivery Saturday night after experiencing labor pain. She delivered the baby girl at around 3:30 a.m. the following day. Unfortunately, the doctors pronounced the case as stillbirth as they observed the child was motionless and there were no signs of respiration, local news outlet DT Next said in a report.

When the family rushed back to the hospital with the baby still alive, hospital authorities told the media they had ordered an inquiry into the lapse. R Balajinathan, the hospital dean, said he had instructed the doctors and paramedical team at the hospital to give an explanation on the course of action that should be taken next.

In April, a 72-year-old woman who had been pronounced dead by a hospital in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh was found alive minutes before her cremation. The woman, identified as Laxmi Bai, fell unconscious and was brought to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead as doctors could not find any vital signs. While the family was preparing for her funeral, Bai's granddaughter became suspicious as the body did not turn cold at all. She then called a doctor to check Bai's vitals and found that she was still alive. However, the woman died on the way back to the hospital.