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Rhune
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Brain-dead woman gives birth & passes on
« on: Aug 3^rd, 2005, 7:13pm »

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Brain-dead woman dies after childbirth
She was kept on life support, as fetus developed

Wednesday, August 3, 2005; Posted: 3:49 p.m. EDT (19:49 GMT)

ARLINGTON, Virginia (AP) -- A brain-dead woman who was kept alive for three months so she could deliver the child she was carrying was removed from life support Wednesday and died, her family said.

Susan Torres' plight attracted worldwide sympathy after she suffered a stroke in May as she battled cancer. She gave birth Tuesday to a daughter, Susan Anne Catherine Torres, by Caesarean section. (Full story)

"This is obviously a bittersweet time for our family," Justin Torres, her brother-in-law, said in a statement.

With the consent of her husband, Jason Torres, doctors at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington turned off Torres' life support early Wednesday after she received the final sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church.

"We thank all of those who prayed and provided support for Susan, the baby and our family," Jason Torres said in a statement released by the hospital.

"We especially thank God for giving us little Susan. My wife's courage will never be forgotten," he said.

The delivery went smoothly, and the baby "is doing well," Justin Torres had said earlier in an e-mail to The Associated Press. The baby weighed 1 pound, 13 ounces, he said.

Torres, a 26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health, lost consciousness from a stroke May 7 after aggressive melanoma spread to her brain. Her husband said doctors told him his wife's brain functions had stopped.

The infant is being monitored in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington.

Jason Torres quit his job to be by his wife's side, spending each night sleeping in a reclining chair next to her bed. Last month the fetus passed the 24th week of development -- the earliest point at which doctors felt the baby would have a reasonable chance to survive, the brother-in-law said.

Torres was about seven months pregnant when the child was delivered. Doctors had hoped to hold off on delivering the child until 32 weeks' gestation. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

A website was set up to help raise money for the family's mounting medical bills and as of two weeks ago, people from around the world had donated around $400,000. The family said it must pay tens of thousands of dollars each week that insurance does not cover.

The couple have one other child -- 2-year-old Peter, who has been staying with his grandparents.

"The entire staff and administration of Virginia Hospital Center, especially the physicians and nurses caring for Susan Torres and Baby Girl Torres, are delighted with the successful delivery," the hospital said in a statement. A spokeswoman declined to release additional details.

Since 1979 there have been at least a dozen similar cases published in English medical literature, said Dr. Winston Campbell, director of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center, which conducted research on the topic.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

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