Brain-Dead Woman Sustained For 54 Days To Give Birth To Her Son

The life of a brain-dead woman was prolonged for 54 days so that she could give birth to her baby. This is the first time that a medical team succeded in the said operation since it was last performed in 1999.

22-year-old Karla Perez was reported to have suffered from severe headaches and subsequently collapsed in her home in Waterloo, Nebraska on February 8. After medical investigation, it was found that she had a brain bleed.

The baby named Angel was then 22 weeks. He could not survive life outside the womb so the medical team had to make decisions, said Dr. Andrew Robertson at the Methodist Women's Hospital. The doctors planned to deliver Angel at 32 weeks, but Karla's health detoriated. Therefore, the doctors took action.

Karla gave birth to baby Angel on April 4, just two days before her death, reported the Washington Post; this was two weeks short of the original birth plan. Angel, who was born at the Methodist Health System in Omaha, had a birth weight of two pounds and 12.6 ounces.

The medical team behind this operation ws composed of 100 doctors, nurses and staff, the hospital said. They kept Karla alive for as long as they could so that she can deliver Angel via caesarean section. "Our team took a giant leap of faith," said Sue Korth, vice president and COO of Methodist Women's Hospital. "We were attempting something that not many before us have been able to do."

Members of the hospital staff said Thursday that Angel was in an incubator at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, and is being fed through a tube. "We are cautiously optimistic," said neonatologist Dr. Brady Kerr. The family of Angel continuously shows support by surrounding him with Karla's belongings. They hope that through this simple act, Angel would feel more comfortable with the scent of her mother. Meanwhile, Karla's organs were donated to three people in line for a transplant.

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