An emergency physician in Taiwan recounted a miracle she witnessed firsthand. A young woman, suffering from dystocia, lost both her breathing and heartbeat. The doctors were at a loss. Just as they were preparing to abandon resuscitation efforts, a single action by the newborn baby miraculously brought the mother back from the brink of death.
Dr. Tien Chih-hsueh, a Taiwanese emergency physician, shared a true story she witnessed firsthand: a 36-year-old woman was in the midst of a difficult labor. As the baby’s heartbeat began to fade, doctors performed an emergency C-section on the mother — a procedure that, fortunately, went quite smoothly. However, just as the newborn was about to be wheeled away to the nursery, the mother suddenly ceased breathing, and her heart stopped beating.
In a desperate scramble, the medical team immediately initiated emergency resuscitation. Yet, after the critical “golden four minutes” and then eight minutes of intense effort, the mother still showed absolutely no signs of life. At that moment, the baby had been wheeled out of the operating room and was on the way to the nursery. Suddenly, her husband spoke up: “I don’t want to take my baby to the nursery just yet; I want to stay right here and wait for my wife.”
The doctor tried to persuade him: “Why don’t you take the baby to the nursery first and then come back? It’s quite all right — we are still working on her.” The husband insisted: “No, I won’t. I’m going to wait right here.” Eventually, the 30-minute critical window for emergency rescue has passed. The doctor stepped out of the operating room and spoke to the husband: “I’m afraid there is nothing more we can do. Should we stop now?”
The husband, overcome with emotion, cried out: “No! I have to do at least one thing first.” The medical staff watched as the husband wheeled the baby’s bassinet right up to his wife’s bedside, then made a request: “She needs to hold him — at least once.” As soon as the baby was put into her arms, he began to wail loudly. Simultaneously, acting on pure instinct, he reflexively began rooting around to find his mother’s nipple to nurse. At that very moment, a miracle occurred: the mother’s heart began to beat again!
Dr. Tien remarked that this phenomenon was completely unexpected, leaving everyone utterly stunned. Prior to this, the doctors had administered every conceivable emergency medication, yet nothing had succeeded in bringing her back. No one could have imagined that a simple, instinctive reflex from her baby would be the very thing to pull the mother back from the gate of death — and that her condition would subsequently begin to stabilize.
Dr. Tien continued, explaining that just one week later, the mother was able to walk out of the Intensive Care Unit. After completing her one-year maternity leave, she returned to the workforce. “She was back to work, completely free of any neurological symptoms.” As Dr. Tien reached this point in her presentation, she couldn’t help but exclaim right there on the spot: “This mom is truly incredible!”
Upon hearing this miraculous and moving story shared by Dr. Tien, the guests and audience members were left utterly astonished and deeply moved, unanimously marveling that this was nothing short of a true miracle of life.
Translated by Patty Zhang and edited by Amanda
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