Mom Was Dying in a Coma until Quick-Witted Nurse Put Her Newborn on Her Chest and It Starts to Cry

A woman suffered a pulmonary embolism after delivering her baby girl through C-section. She fell into a near-fatal coma, and the doctors were worried she wouldn't make it until a quick-thinking nurse had a strange idea.

Mothers are known to share a profound connection with their children, even before they are born. Shelly Cawley's phenomenal bond with her newborn baby was no different. Surprisingly, it proved life-saving and miraculous.

The then-23-year-old Shelly from Concord, North Carolina, didn't plan to get pregnant with her then-35-year-old husband, Jeremy Cawley's baby. However, when the couple discovered that they were expecting, they were thrilled.

LIVING A NIGHTMARE

Jeremy was a YMCA director, while Shelly was a nursing student. While Shelly planned to deliver naturally, her hopes were shattered when she developed a blood clot in her leg a month before her due date.

Resultantly, doctors started treating her with blood thinners. On September 5, 2014, her water broke, and her husband rushed her to the Carolinas Medical Center in NorthEast Concord. When her labor didn't progress, the doctors made another discovery.

Shelly was diagnosed with preeclampsia and a life-threatening condition called HELLP syndrome. The abnormal fluctuations in her blood pressure and heartbeat meant that her only option was to deliver via C-section.

A HEART-WRENCHING MOMENT

Rylan Grace Cawley was born on September 5 at 11:44 p.m. She was healthy and weighed seven pounds and 11 ounces. Jeremy held his daughter and waited for his wife to gain consciousness. The doctors had told him that his wife was in recovery.

When the doctors pronounced him dead after multiple resuscitations, Kate asked her husband to take off his shirt and jump into her bed.

Unfortunately, Shelly's health took a drastic turn. It turned out that Rylan's weight had held the clot in place, but it traveled from Shelly's leg to her lungs after delivery, causing a pulmonary embolism. She then slipped into a near-fatal coma.

A STRANGE IDEA

The doctors were sure they had lost Shelly until a quick-thinking nurse at Carolinas HealthCare System NorthEast had an idea. Ashley Manus placed little Rylan on her comatose mom's bare chest. Regarding the harrowing experience, Jeremy recalled:

"The nurses instructed us to strip the baby down and put her skin-to-skin with Shelly. Their hope was that if Shelly could smell the baby, feel the baby, hear the baby — even in the coma — it would give her a reason to fight."

But instead of letting out a wail, Rylan fell asleep on her mom's chest. Jeremy and the nurses tickled baby Rylan, and fortunately, she screamed after about ten minutes. Luckily, Shelly's vitals showed an improvement afterward.

THE MIRACLE MOM

Nurse Manus expressed that the moment Rylan miraculously saved her mother's life was indescribable. It took a week for Shelly to recover from her coma completely and cradle her baby girl. The happy mom told WBTV:

"That's what my OB told us. There's a lot of miracle babies, but I'm her first miracle mom."

After weeks of intensive care, Shelly was discharged two days before Rylan turned one month old. An overjoyed Shelly revealed, "I just look at her now and think of the amazing bond we have. I can tell her when she grows up that she saved my life."

A MIRACLE BABY

Shelly and Rylan's miraculous story may seem unusual to some, but it isn't the only one where skin-to-skin contact proved life-saving. In 2010, an Australian couple saved their twin boy's life after being declared dead by the doctors.

David and Kate Ogg from Queensland Australia welcomed twins — a boy and a girl on March 25, 2010. While their girl, Emily, cried immediately after delivery, there was no peep from their son, Jamie. The couple was told their son had no heartbeat.

When the doctors pronounced him dead after multiple resuscitations, Kate asked her husband to take off his shirt and jump into her bed. She then asked the doctors if she and her husband could hug their child for the last time.

Kate unwrapped her son and placed him across her chest. David joined his wife, and together, they hugged their child. Minutes later, little Jamie started stroking his father's fingers.

The Oggs practiced "kangaroo care" with Jamie, and their body warmth helped revive their son's heartbeat.

Indeed, the miraculous revival stories of the Cawleys and Oggs prove that the beautiful bond a mother shares with her child is one of a kind. Don't forget to share these heartwarming stories with your friends and family.