Baby born 2 days after mum dies

Updated on: 13 January,2009 08:51 AM IST |
Agencies |

C-section performed after woman was declared brain dead; baby was born at a mere 25 weeks

C-section performed after woman was declared brain dead; baby was born at a mere 25 weeks

miracle: The baby girl weighed only 0.95 kg at birth

Former British champion ice skater Jayne Soliman (41) was declared brain-dead at an Oxford hospital, but doctors managed to keep her heart beating long enough to deliver Aya Jayne by caesarean section.

Soliman was only 25 weeks pregnant when she collapsed at home last Wednesday, having complained of a headache.

Doctors said the skater had suffered a brain haemorrhage caused by an aggressive tumour which had struck a major blood vessel.

Steroids

She was given large doses of steroids to help the child's lungs develop and within 48 hours gave birth to the baby, who weighed 0.95kg. Her husband, Mahmoud, was with her when the child was born.

Doctors briefly put the baby next to Soliman before they turned off the life-support system.

David Phillips, a fellow skater and friend of Soliman's, said, "She lived to have a baby girl that was the one thing she wanted in her life. This would have been the best day of her life."

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