A baby has been born 15 weeks after his mother has been declared brain dead death. The successful birth is a record for Portugal representing the longest-ever survival of a foetus to a brain-dead mother.
The Lisbon hospital announced that a baby boy, weighing 2.35kg (5lb 3oz), was born after a 32 week pregnancy without complications and by caesarean section.”
The 37-year-old mother was declared brain-dead on February 20th having suffered a brain haemorrhage.
A spokesman from the team of doctors from the Dr Alfredo da Costa Maternity Hospital and the nurological unit of the Central Lisbon Hospitals added that ealier tests had shown the foetus to be in good health and that “the decision was taken with the family to follow through with the pregnancy.”
The decision was ratified by the ethics committee and directorate of Central Lisbon Hospitals. The Board of Directors also appointed a Scientific Council to monitor the process, with a representative of the Medical Association, a representative of the Ethics Committee, an obstetrician and critical care team.
The Ethics Committee later reported that had the family objected to taking the pregnancy to full term, the State was prepared to step in as the legal guardian of the child and that the birth still would have taken place.
There remain questions over the father's abilty or desire fully to care for his son who already is being referred to as the 'miracle baby' and is expected to live with his mother’s parents.
It has not been revealed whether the mother has remained on life support systems of for how long she will remain alive. The baby is being cared for in the hospital's neo-natal Intensive Care Unit.
