HANOI: A young Vietnamese mother who suffered a traumatic brain injury while 26 weeks pregnant and spent 70 days in a coma has been saved, waking up to find her baby delivered safe and healthy.
The first thing she asked to do upon regaining consciousness was to breastfeed her baby boy.
Despite more than two months of being bedridden and her body weakened, she was able to produce milk for her baby.
Nguyen Thi Thao, the patient’s mother-in-law, was overcome with emotion.
"Seeing my grandchild born healthy, both mother and baby safe, brought me to tears. It feels like my daughter-in-law has returned from the brink of death," Thao told Vietnam Television.
The woman sustained a severe brain injury in an accident while carrying her baby in the sixth month of pregnancy.
Following brain surgery at Viet Duc Hospital, she was transferred to Duc Giang General Hospital for continued care on Jan 8.
Though unconscious, doctors spoke to her daily about the tiny life inside her.
According to Dr Le Nguyen An, Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at Duc Giang General Hospital, their hope was to stimulate her brain’s response and encourage recovery.
Caring for a comatose patient with a brain injury is already complex, but the added challenge of ensuring the baby’s survival made the case even more delicate.
Medications had to be carefully administered to avoid harming the unborn child, and doctors had to prepare for worst-case scenarios, Dr An said.
After 70 days of treatment, the mother’s condition gradually stabilised.
Her vital signs improved, she was able to breathe on her own through a tracheostomy and the baby continued to develop normally.
On the evening of March 15, she showed signs of labour at 36 weeks of pregnancy.
However, the baby was in a breech position and doctors decided to perform an emergency C-section.
The surgery was a success and a baby boy weighing 2kg was born, bringing huge joy and relief to the medical team and the family.
Dr An said that the mother’s condition had shown significant improvement in the past week.
At times, she had even been seen shedding tears, seemingly moved by the presence of her child, he added. - Vietnam News/ANN
