A baby born to a cerebral mother

March 29, 2019

Catalina Sequeira had an acute asthma attack at 12 weeks of pregnancy and, after a while in induced coma, went into brain death at 19 weeks.

Salvador He became the miracle baby after born by cesarean section at São João Hospital in Porto, northern Portugal, after almost 32 weeks of gestation of a mother with brain death for three months.

In this regard, Hercília Guimarães, head of the neonatology of the health center, explained that she had decided to advance the caesarean section, initially scheduled for Friday, for reasons the mother presented a "respiratory deterioration" yesterday morning.

After 31 weeks and six days of gestation, the baby was born Thursday afternoon with 1.7 kg, a weight "adequate" for his gestational age, according to Guimarães. "He is born well", he said on this subject.

And while the child needed respiratory support at birth, the head of neonatology said it was usual in babies born at 32 weeks old.

The hospital decided to try to prolong the pregnancy until 32 weeks because it is the moment that marks the barrier between premature and moderately premature. After this period, the baby "generates less worry," explained Guimarães.

The smallest baby in the world leaves the hospital: he was born in August and weighed 268 grams

"Our challenge was to keep his body and organs viable. We guarantee hemodynamic, respiratory and metabolic stability and thus avoid the major problems resulting from the condition of brain death, especially pituitary dysfunction, causing significant metabolic disorders, "Teresa said. Honrado, intensive care unit, after childbirth.

Catalina Sequeira, the mother, had an acute asthma attack at twelve weeks of pregnancy and, after a period of induced coma, he went into brain death at nineteen weeks.

In this way, Salvador became the first baby of a deceased mother at São João Hospital in Porto.

A similar case occurred in 2016 in the central hospital center of Lisbon. A child was born to a mother with brain death for fifteen weeks.