Dead baby was alive

The baby in an incubator at Sion Hospital.

Miracle baby declared dead and kept in mortuary for four hours, gasps for breath just as her dad lowers her into grave

“I opened the gauze, covering my dead daughter’s face to see her one last time before I buried her and as I looked at her, I heard a distinct gasp. I peered at her and realised my darling was alive.”
Bhagwan Gaikwad, the baby’s father

The miracle baby, Sion Hospital doctors declared “dead due to a cardiac arrest”, had in fact, survived four hours in a mortuary in 0°C, next to dead bodies. She was also three months premature and extremely fragile at just 1.4 kg. For her parents, hence, it’s nothing short of a rebirth.

This was Aruna Gaikwad’s first baby after nine years of marriage.

For the Karjat couple, Bhagwan (30) and Aruna (26), the baby had always been that much more special, because it was their first after nine years of marriage. On June 16, Aruna was in her sixth month and went for a check-up to Sion Hospital.

Why she survived

>>Usually cotton wool is stuffed in the mouth, nostrils and ears of a dead body so that body fluid doesn’t ooze out. Here, the hospital staff wrapped the baby in white linen gauze, which allowed her to breathe.

>>The baby would have been subjected to an autopsy, but luckily, the death certificate stated that the baby had a cardiac arrest and was not operated on.

Sion gynaecologist suspended pending enquiry

The doctors asked Bhagwan to organise medicines as an emergency Cesarean had to be performed. “At 7 pm, the staff said my wife had delivered a girl and it was normal delivery. Aruna was still unconscious and the staff showed me my daughter for a bit, before taking her away,” recalls Bhagwan.

“A few minutes later, the staff told me my daughter was dead. I was shocked and speechless,” he added.

The infant was wrapped in a white linen gauze and kept in the ward until midnight. Later, the ‘corpse’ was moved to the hospital mortuary, near unclaimed bodies, where temperatures range between zero and two degrees.


At 2 am, seven hours later, Bhagwan collected his daughter only to realise she was alive at the cremation ground. The baby was then taken back to the hospital around 3.30 am and put in an incubator, where she is recovering. She weighs around 1.4 kg.

On Wednesday Additional Chief Commissioner (health) Kishore Gajbia suspended gynecologist Dr Ashma, who had declared the infant dead.

Shubadha Gudakar, chairman health committee, said, “It’s a serious matter and prima facie, it shows the gynecologist was negligent.” Added BMC Commissioner Jairaj Phatak, “We will take action against the doctor who wrongfully declared the infant dead, after getting the inquiry report.”

Dr Ashma refused to comment saying, “I have nothing to say.”