A newborn baby reportedly ‘came back to life’ after being sprinkled with holy water at her wake in front of stunned relatives in Paraguay.

The baby girl was born prematurely when her 21-year-old mother, at only 32 weeks along, was taken to hospital last Friday after suffering from breathing problems.

According to Mail Online, doctors advised her deliver the premature baby as both the lives of the mother and her daughter were at risk as the mother-to-be was not getting enough oxygen.

Following an emergency caesarean section, her family received news that the baby girl was not showing any vital signs and had passed away. They later collected a death certificate and got a small coffin to hold a funeral.

The hospital released the baby’s body to father Ignacio Medina Vega, who put his daughter in a tiny coffin and organised a small funeral. During the wake, her uncle saw the baby move her head after being sprinkled with holy water.

Ignacio told local media: ‘When the uncle arrived to say goodbye to her, he saw the baby was moving her head and was breathing.’

He added: ‘Then we went to look and we could see her little heart beating.’

The family immediately took the baby back to the Regional Hospital of Ciudad del Este in the Paraguayan city of the same name.

Doctors placed the newborn in an incubator in intensive care where she is still fighting for survival.

The father said: ‘She started crying when a doctor grabbed her. The doctors told us it was a miracle. The serious thing is that we were about to bury her alive.’

It is estimated that the infant remained in the coffin for over four hours and the lid was closed for around half that time.

Following her alleged ‘resurrection’, the baby’s parents have decided to name her Milagros de Jesús – which translates as Miracle of Jesus -, according to local media reports.

The baby girl, who weighs less than 600 grams, is now back in hospital, where doctors have given her a ‘very reserved prognosis’.

Meanwhile, hospital officials are trying to establish why she was declared dead.

Hospital spokesperson Federico Schrodel said they haven’t ruled out the possibility of catalepsy, a condition characterised by a lack of response to external stimuli, loss of consciousness, and rigidity of the body.

He added: ‘Due to being premature, this is something that can happen, the patient is practically left without any vital signs.’