Newborn baby in North Carolina wakes mother out of coma following childbirth

But just as doctors were despairing of reviving Shelly, Nurse Ashley Manus at the Carolinas HealthCare System Northeast came up with a suggestion that must have seemed to doctors at the time dubious.

“The doctors had done all they could and it was clear, they absolutely thought they were losing her at this point”, Jeremy told People.

That’s when one nurse had an idea.

She told WCNC-TV: “We knew skin-to-skin contact was very beneficial to an infant, so we thought, why not try it for a mum because the baby [was] already thriving, she was doing great”.

For new mum Shelly Ann Cawley, her first meeting with her baby daughter Rylan was particularly loaded with emotion.

She told Buzzfeed: “I remember staring at Rylan’s face and thinking she is the most handsome baby in the world”. After 10 minutes of gentle tickles and pinches, the baby had finally let out a big wail.

That’s when it happened.

“I clearly remember laying on the stretcher to take me back to the operating room and I was crying”, Shelly said.

Now, a year later, both Shelly and Rylan are perfectly healthy and above all thankful. “I’m still here because of her, and I just can’t wait to tell her that”.

When Rylan cried, the staff instantly saw a spike in Mrs Cawley’s vitals (heartbeat, breathing rate, temperature and blood pressure). “Her crying was able to give me something to fight for”. “They can’t do anything, but yet she was able to”. “We were poking and tickling to get Ryland to make some noises but she was so happy that wasn’t happening right away”.

A year after the miraculous incident, the family celebrated baby Rylan’s first birthday with friends and family.

Shelly has put it all in perspective, “I think it’s pretty incredible”.