The case has raised ethical questions. Photo / 123RF
The case has raised ethical questions. Photo / 123RF
A Czech clinic says a baby girl has been born to a brain-dead woman kept on life support for nearly three months to allow her pregnancy to go ahead.
The University Hospital in the second-largest Czech city of Brno said Tuesday the 2100g baby was born by caesarean section whenthe mother was 34 weeks pregnant.
The hospital statement did not provide details on the baby's health, but Czech public television said the girl — born earlier this month — is now with her father.
The 27-year-old mother was declared brain-dead in early June after suffering a brain haemorrhage a few weeks into her pregnancy.
The University Hospital in Brno, Czech Republic. Photo / Supplied
At the time, the hospital said doctors would keep the mother alive on mechanical support until the baby was developed enough to be delivered.
A hospital spokesperson said that the record length of time that the mother was kept alive made the case unique.
The hospital plans to give more information at a press conference next week.
The case is similar to one in Portugal earlier this year where former international athlete Catarina Sequeira give birth to a baby boy after being brain dead for 56 days following an asthma attack.
Catarina Sequeira, 26, gave birth to a baby boy called Salvador on Thursday, he weighed just 3.75lbs. Photo / Twitter.
In that case, Portugal's presumed consent laws kept the baby alive, as well as the wishes of Sequeira's family.
Some on social media have raised ethical concerns in this latest case, with one woman writing: "I just watched an episode of Handmaid's Tale where a woman was kept alive just until her baby could be viable.
"It made me wonder about the ethical implications and I'd be curious to know more information about this very real case in Brno, such as who was in charge of the decision over the woman's body, if she was taken off life support right after the C-section and so on."
