A 'dead' woman has given birth to a healthy baby - and been brought back to life herself. Erica Nigrelli was 36 weeks pregnant when her heart stopped and she collapsed at work, reports Click2Houston.


Three co-workers at Elkins High School in Missouri City kept Erica alive by using CPR and a defibrillator until paramedics arrived to take her to hospital.

Doctors carried out a caesarean section - technically a postmortem delivery since the 32-year-old's heart was not beating at the time - and delivered baby Elayna.

Her husband Nathan recalled: "There were two lives hanging in the balance the whole time."

Mother and baby were kept in intensive care for several weeks but are now both home and doing well.

Medics said that Erica suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition which makes the heart muscle become thick.