Hungarian doctors kept a baby alive in its mother's womb 92 days after she had been declared brain dead.

 

Doctors at a Hungarian hospital have delivered a premature¹ but healthy baby 92 days after the child's mother was declared brain dead.

 

The 32-year-old mother had suffered a catastrophic stroke during the 15th week of her pregnancy².

 

After a two-day battle to save her life, her circulation³ and other vital functions stopped, according to Prof Bela Fulesdi, the president of the medical centre at Debrecen University, where the woman was treated.

 

But the baby was still "alive and kicking", he said on Wednesday, and the woman's partner and parents were asked to decide whether to switch off the life-support systems, or keep them functioning in an attempt to save the foetus（胎儿）.

 

The mother was fed with special nutrient-rich fluids while a battery of sensors⁴ monitored the status of the child. "For three months we managed to keep the baby alive, and then it was delivered on the 27th week with a caesarean section（剖腹产）," Prof Fulesdi said. "The baby is now home and growing."

 

The child's name and sex have been kept secret at the request of the family, which also asked not to be identified, and doctors waited several months after the baby's birth last summer to reveal what happened.

 

After the birth of her child the mother's life support systems were switched off, and her two kidneys⁵, pancreas and heart were donated to other patients.

 

Doctors at Debrecen said they knew of only two other cases of babies born to mothers who needed life-support from so early in their pregnancy.

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