Baby born prematurely was pronounced dead–then his mom hugged him and a miracle happened

Some moments in life defy all logic, leaving the most heartbreaking moments into heartwarming miracles. That was the case for Kate and David Ogg, a couple from Australia who welcomed twins into the world at just 27 weeks on March 25, 2010, as per Today. Their son, Jamie, was pronounced dead shortly after birth, but what happened in the following minutes would become a story that captured hearts around the world.

The Oggs had been overjoyed when they learned they were expecting twins, but their happiness turned into devastation when doctors told them that their baby boy, Jamie, hadn’t survived. Nurses placed his tiny body on Kate’s chest so she could say goodbye. She and David whispered to him, telling him about his twin sister, Emily, and how much they loved him. She held his hand and stroked his face. Then, against all odds, Jamie gasped for air. At first, the medical staff dismissed it as a reflex. Then he moved again. The mom placed a drop of breast milk on her finger and brought it to his lips.

He swallowed. Slowly, his body warmed up, and his breathing became more steady. Now, he was very much alive. Kate told Today, "I’d carried him inside me for only six months—not long enough—but I wanted to meet him and to hold him, and for him to know us. We’d resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose him, and we were just trying to make the most of those last, precious moments." Her husband, David, was still processing what had happened. "We feel so fortunate. We're the luckiest people in the world," he said. What happened in that delivery room wasn’t something doctors could easily explain, but it added to the growing conversation about the benefits of skin-to-skin contact, sometimes called "kangaroo care."

It helps newborns placed against a parent's chest to have more stable breathing and heart rates, and in some cases, the practice has improved survival rates for premature babies. Two years after the day, the Oggs shared an update about the twins, saying over a video call, "The twins are developing completely normally," To prove it, she asked them, "Where’s your nose? Where are your ears?" Emily and Jamie pointed proudly to the right spots. She then asked, "Where's your belly?" Both lifted their shirts with matching grins. Jamie and Emily soon had another sibling in 2011 named Charlie. Charlie, unlike his older siblings, was born full-term and weighed over 10 pounds. Ogg described her youngest as "a little sumo."

When he was born, Kate instructed her doctor, "Just give him to me when he’s born." Recalling her experience with the twins, she said, "I’m more confident in telling medical professionals what I want with my babies." The family later moved to a quiet coastal town in New Zealand, where they settled into life with their three children. But even years later, Kate admitted she still found herself checking on Jamie more often than necessary, making sure he was still breathing when he slept. "I panic if they sleep in too long and I don’t hear a sound from the nursery. I’m a bit too morbid, I think," she said. When asked what she would tell Jamie when he was old enough to understand what had happened, she smiled and said, "Technically, you're two minutes older. But Emily's been alive longer."