This is a wonderful story. Doctors gave up my 20oz baby for dead...but I saved her life with a cuddle.
She said: "I didn't want her to die being cold. So I lifted her out of her blanket and put her against my skin to warm her up. Her feet were so cold.
"It was the only cuddle I was going to have with her, so I wanted to remember the moment." Then something remarkable happened. The warmth of her mother's skin kickstarted Rachael's heart into beating properly, which allowed her to take little breaths of her own.
Miss Isbister said: "We couldn't believe it - and neither could the doctors. She let out a tiny cry.
What I'm trying to figure out is...
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"The doctor just took one look at her and said no," said Miss Isbister.
"They didn't even try to help her with her breathing as they said it would just prolong her dying. Everyone just gave up on her."
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I have to tell you - that does not happen (or didn't when I worked neonatal 25 years ago) in the US. If a baby is born with eyes open - they are resuscitated... PERIOD. Every effort is made to save them.
Of course this is the difference between socialized medicine and our system. I guess over in the more "civilized" part of the world - instead of trying - they decide it's "too much trouble". That might or might not be a good thing. In this case, little Rachel is a fighter - good for her! But at the moment I can't tell you how much I want to take hold of that doctor and shake the ever living daylights out of him.