Miracle Baby in India

Stories about premature babies always capture my immediate attention, and this story tops many of them. A pregnant woman gave birth prematurely to a baby girl in a train toilet this week, and the baby fell through the toilet and onto the tracks (Indian train toilets are open to the ground). The woman then passed out and since it was the middle of the night, she was not discovered by her brother-in-law until two stations later. Covered in blood, she figured out what had happened and her family pulled the cord to stop the train and alert the railway authorities.

The baby was discovered lying on the train tracks, two hours after birth. Weighing a little over 3 pounds and born 8 weeks prematurely, she survived being dropped from a moving train and lying on the tracks for 2 hours in the cold. She is now in a NICU in Rajastan.

It's amazing to consider what a premature baby can survive. Given the importance of early bonding on brain and organ development, not to mention psychological adaptivity and success, these babies fight overwhelming odds. To think that Chris was not held or cuddled until he was 6 weeks old, yet now is an extremely affectionate child, is amazing. Those last 4 months in the womb are critical for so many reasons, not all of them physical. I must remember to remind myself of that any time I grow frustrated with my young preteen.