Doctors 'freeze' baby as paramount life-saving procedure

Doctors had to "freeze" a baby boy born at 35 weeks in an effort to reduce his increasing heart rate, Yahoo! News reports Feb. 15. Baby Edward Ives' heart was racing at 300 beats per-minute -- and with a five percent survival rate due to his condition, doctors decided to freeze him after exhausting all routine methods with drugs and shocking the heart.

The baby was sedated, wrapped in blanket filled with cooling gel, and frozen for four days. His body temperature went down to 91 degrees. Doctors slowly increased his temperature to 98.6 degrees.

As anyone can imagine, this was difficult for baby Edward's mother to endure. After all, agreeing to "freeze" your baby isn't something a parent goes along with every day. She went through a series of highs and lows while her son was in freezing temperatures.

"All I wanted to do was scoop him up and give him a warm cuddle. I just had to keep reminding myself that it was saving his life,” Edward’s mother, Claire, said.

The freezing procedure worked and Edward's mother said he's back home doing well.