Nairobi, July 8 : A newborn baby, declared dead at a hospital in Kenya, shocked his entire family when he woke up smiling in the coffin, a media report said on Wednesday.

The mother gave birth to the baby at home in her seventh month of pregnancy on Sunday, after which both were taken to a hospital in Bundo in southwest of Kenya.

The father told Citizen TV that the baby was in an incubator until Tuesday, when the nurses declared him dead.

The story took an unexpected turn when, during the funeral, a woman asked to see the baby's body to pay her respects and then found the baby lying in the coffin, smiling.

The mother, who was still recovering in the hospital, received the news with unspeakable joy, the father said.