An Australian mother has told how her touch brought her 'dead' baby back to life.
Doctors gave tiny Jamie Ogg no chance of survival when he was born prematurely at 27 weeks weighing just 2lb.
His twin sister Emily had survived but after battling for 20 minutes to get him to breathe Jamie was declared dead.
He was then handed to his mother Kate so she and her partner David could grieve and say their goodbyes.But after two hours of being spoken to, touched cuddled and held by his mother he miraculously began showing signs of life.
Then after being given breast milk on his mother's finger, he began breathing regularly.
Kate, who gave birth after a three-hour labour in March, has spoken of how vital 'skin-on-skin' care can be for a sick baby, or 'kangaroo touch' as it is known in Australia. 'Skin-on-skin' care is when the child is laid on the mother.
Normally, premature babies are sent to intensive care and she was only given her son to hold because he was thought to have died.
Telling how the drama unfolded at a hospital in Sydney, she said: 'The doctor asked me after the birth had we chosen a name for our son.
'I said, "Jamie", and he turned around with my son already wrapped up and said, "We've lost Jamie, he didn't make it, sorry."
'It was the worse feeling I've ever felt. I unwrapped Jamie from his blanket.
'He was very limp. His little arms and legs were just falling down away from his body.I took my gown off and arranged him on my chest with his head over my arm and just held him.
'He started gasping more and more regularly. I thought, "Oh my God, what's going on?" A short time later he opened his eyes. It was a miracle'
'He wasn't moving at all and we just started talking to him. We told him what his name was and that he had a sister.
'We told him the things we wanted to do with him throughout his life.'
Jamie occasionally gasped for air, which doctors said was a reflex action.
She added: 'After just five minutes I felt him move as if he were startled, then he started gasping more and more regularly.
'I thought, "Oh my God, what's going on?" A short time later he opened his eyes. It was a miracle.
'I told my mum, who was there, that he was still alive. Then he held out his hand and grabbed my finger.
'He opened his eyes and moved his head from side to side.'She said they passed on a message to their doctor insisting Jamie was showing signs of life, but he sent back a midwife with the reply that they were just natural reflexes and that there was no possible way he could still be alive.
Kate then said to her husband, 'What if he lives?'
She added: 'I was like, "We could be the luckiest parents in the world".
'I gave Jamie some breast milk on my finger, he took it and started regular breathing.
'At that point the doctor came back. He got a stethoscope, listened to Jamie's chest and just kept shaking his head.
'He said, "I don't believe it, I don't believe it".'
David, speaking to the Australian TV show Today Tonight, said: 'Luckily, I've got a very strong, very smart wife.
'She instinctively did what she did. If she hadn't have done that, then Jamie probably wouldn't be here.'
