Shock for dad about to bury baby

JITRA: A tiny movement on a burial shroud (kain kafan) turned a couple's anguish into joy.

Azmi Masiron, 26, and othr mourners were grieving for his stillborn baby and preparing for the funeral at his home in Kampung Padang when they notice a movement from the baby placed on the funeral shroud.

Shocked, Azmi called for an ambulance to take the baby back to the Jitra Hospital where his 28-year-old wife, Nordewiyana Din, had given birth an hour earlier. The baby was placed in an incubator at the paediatrics ward at the hospital.

"I am really upset as this could have seriously endangered the health of my baby.

"I hope this does not happen to another parent," he said, adding that he planned to make a police report.

Azmi said the premature baby, who weighed 330g and was 15cm long, was born around 11am at the Jitra Hospital.

"My wife was in the emergency unit waiting room since 7.50am was allowed to enter the delivery room around 11am.

"A few minutes later, a doctor informed me that my baby had died and told me to make funeral arrangements," he said yesterday.

Azmi, a school canteen operator, said he then went to the delivery room and saw his baby wrapped in paper and covered with a sarong. He called his father-in-law Din Ahmad, 65, to tell him about the death and asked him to prepare for the burial.

Azmi said during the 5km ride home to is village, the baby was covered and there was no movement.

"However, when my father-in-law placed the baby on the burial shroud, she suddenly moved, shocking about 200 villagers who had gathered for the funeral," he said

Nordewiyana is undergoing treatment at the Alor Setar Hospital for complications following the birth. Azmi and his wife have a 9-month-old baby boy.

When contacted, Kedah Health Department director Dr Hasnah Ismail said an investigation would be conducted but declined to elaborate.

Source: NST newspaper