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Baby prematurely declared dead displays signs of life after hours in cold storage By Jack Khoury Tags: Israel, morgue A baby who was declared dead and put in the Western Galilee Hospital's morgue suddenly displayed signs of life yesterday after six hours in cold storage. "Someone owes me a lot of answers about what happened," declared the baby's father, Ali Majdoub of Kafr Yassif. "I'm having trouble digesting how my baby suddenly came to life, who decided she wasn't alive to begin with, and whether the medical crew did everything necessary before determining death and before wrapping her up and transferring her to the morgue." The Nahariya-based hospital had trouble giving him any answers yesterday. However, hospital director Dr. Massad Barhoum has decided to ask the Health Ministry to appoint an external inquiry committee to investigate the case. Advertisement Majdoub told Haaretz that his 26-year-old wife, Faiza, had been in the 23rd week of a seemingly normal pregnancy when, on Sunday afternoon, she suddenly felt ill and went to the hospital. According to Faiza, the doctors examined her and concluded that the fetus was healthy, but she was experiencing abnormal discharge and hospitalized in the high-risk maternity ward. At about 1 A.M. yesterday, Faiza called her husband in a panic and said the doctors were bringing her to the delivery room, as she appeared to have begun labor. At about 5 A.M., the premature baby was born, weighing a mere 610 grams. "She was the size of the palm of my hand," said Ali. "I saw her convulse, and then they wrapped her up and took her away, and a little while later, the doctor came and said she wouldn't survive, she wouldn't live. I tell you with certainty that my wife and I saw her move when she was born, and after that I don't know what happened. But I accepted the doctors' announcement, and as a man of faith, I accepted the decree of fate." The hospital explained that a senior doctor examined the infant and found that she had no pulse and was not breathing. He therefore declared her dead, wrapped her up and took her to the morgue. Following the abortive birth, Ali went home. But he and Faiza wanted to bury their daughter themselves rather than let the hospital do it, so at about 11 A.M. yesterday, he returned to Western Galilee to collect his daughter's body. "I received what appeared to be a wrapped bundle covered with stickers, and I left," Ali said. "Then, I don't know why, but at that moment, my wife called and asked me to bring her [the baby] to her in the ward again. I tried to explain to her that there was no point, but she insisted, and I didn't want to break her heart." Faiza explained that she simply "wanted to see her again one last time to say good-bye to her." When Ali reached her bed, where other relatives were also waiting, Faiza related: "We opened the blankets, one layer at a time. We saw the tiny baby lying on a piece of cotton, and suddenly - we felt her moving. At first we didn't believe it, but she took my mother's hand, held her finger and then also moved her mouth. We couldn't believe that she was alive after so many hours in the refrigerator, and after they wrapped her up like that." The stunned parents quickly told the doctors, and a pediatrician was summoned urgently. To his astonishment, he discovered that the baby indeed had a pulse, and he promptly moved her to an incubator. Dr. Moshe Daniel, deputy director of the hospital, said that the baby responded to treatment and was soon breathing on her own. "I have no explanation for what happened," he said. "We've examined the medical literature, and there are simply no answers for such a case." He rejected the parents' claim that their daughter was born alive, and the doctor was simply overly hasty in declaring her dead. "We've looked into the matter, and we understood that a senior doctor examined her immediately after the birth and there were no signs of life," Daniel said. "She was wrapped up and left in the ward, as per procedure, for an hour, and only then brought to the morgue." But Faiza and Ali are furious at the hospital and the medical team that handled the delivery. "We will follow up on this story and investigate it," Ali vowed. "Meanwhile, I hope my daughter survives." The hospital said the chances of that are slim. "The 23rd week is an abortion," said Dr. Barhoum. "Thus the preemie's chances are very slim. And even if she lives, she will have significant brain damage." But her family insists on hoping. After all, said Ali's father, Hussein Majdoub, he had already finished digging her grave yesterday morning - and then, he heard the miraculous news that his granddaughter was alive. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Poor sports Here are the top 10 excuses for Israel's poor Olympics showing. Kafka the Zionist Remnants of Kafka's estate found in T.A. raise questions of his belief in Zionism.

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