A miracle in a big drama – this is how the Italian media write about the birth of a child whose mother, in a state of irreversible coma, was kept alive artificially for two months so that the fetus could develop. The woman was disconnected from the machines after giving birth.
In early November, a 30-year-old pregnant immigrant from Sri Lanka, 21 weeks pregnant, found herself in the emergency room of a hospital in Milan with a very high fever. She was diagnosed with severe meningitis.
Doctors decided to save the child. For 55 days, the pregnant woman was attached to machines that kept her alive. In recent days, however, a steady decrease in pressure in the woman’s body has been noted. Therefore, the doctors decided that it was impossible to wait any longer and performed an urgent caesarean section.
A boy named Matteo was born on Monday in the 29th week of pregnancy in a fairly good condition. It weighs 1140 grams. Only in a few days the doctors at Niguarda Hospital will be able to tell if he is healthy. For now, they ensure that they are not losing their optimism.
Immediately after giving birth, the woman was disconnected from the machines and organs were removed from her body for transplantation.
This is the fifth time in Italy where pregnant women were kept alive so that they could bear children.
From Rome Sylwia Wysocka (PAP)