Guidelines for duration of resuscitation of freshly-stillborn term infants and their long term outcome are unclear. The predictive factors of both cerebral palsy and early neonatal demise include Apgar scores of 3 or less at 10 minutes, perinatal acidaemia and neonatal seizures. We describe the case of severe perinatal asphyxia (umbilical artery pH at birth of 6.75, Apgar scores of 0.1 and 5 0.1 5 at 1.5 and 10 minutes and neonatal hypertonia) in a term pregnancy, where the infant made an uneventful recovery and was discharged home well. Guidelines for neonatal resuscitation are discussed.