In a shocking case, a stillborn baby emerged from its mother 10 days after she had died, plunging the family into fresh grief.
The woman, 33-year-old Nomveliso Nomasonto Mdoyi had suddenly complained of breathlessness at her home in the village of Mthayisi in South Africa’s southern Eastern Cape province.
The mum-of-five died shortly afterwards and her body was given to a firm of funeral directors ahead of her burial.
However, 10 days after she had passed away, staff noticed that a dead baby had appeared between the legs of her lifeless body.
Experts say that the relaxation of muscles after death or even a build-up of bacteria could cause an unborn baby to be expelled experts.
The boss of the funeral directors for Lindokuhle Funerla Fundile Makalana said that when they took the body from the mortuary tray to her coffin, they discovered that there was a newly born baby between her legs.
'The baby was dead. We were so shocked and frightened that we did not even have time to look at the sex of the baby.
He went on to add that even though they have been in business for 20 years, they have never heard of a dead woman give birth.
The shocking incident left her mother Mandzala Mdoyi, 76, even more grief-stricken.
The family reportedly ignored some suggestions of witchcraft and held a funeral and cremation as planned, with the baby in the coffin with its mother.
It is not clear whether the baby's life could have been saved had doctors provided different treatment when the mother fell ill.
