AP: Baby Born to Brain-Dead Va. Woman Dies

[question everything]

Baby Born to Brain-Dead Va. Woman Dies

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 28 minutes ago

An infant born last month to a severely brain-damaged woman has died after emergency surgery to repair a perforated intestine, the family said Monday.

Susan Anne Catherine Torres, born prematurely on Aug. 2 after her mother was on life support for three months, died of heart failure Sunday, a family statement said.

(snip)

Cancer patient Susan Rollin Torres, a 26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health, suffered a stroke in May after melanoma spread to her brain. She was kept alive on life support so she could deliver the child.

(snip)

The baby's father, Jason Torres, had made the decision after his wife lost consciousness to keep her on life support for the sake of her fetus.

The pregnancy became a race between the fetus' development and the cancer that was ravaging the woman's body. Doctors at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, where the baby was born, said that Torres' health was deteriorating and that the risk of harm to the fetus finally outweighed the benefits of extending the pregnancy.

(snip)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050912/ap_on_re_us/brain_dead_pregnancy

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. What a huge disappointment for that family. n/t

[fleabert]

2. awful for everyone involved...just awful.nt

[Maccagirl]

3. What a tragic story!

My condolences to Mr. Torres and his family. He must be in deep pain right now.

:cry:

[Beausoir]

4. My god.

What a terrible ending to a very sad story.

[etherealtruth]

5. So much tragedy for this family ...

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[renate]

6. how awful...

That poor family, especially the husband. Not just because he lost his wife and now his child, but because caring for the baby was something he felt he could do to honor her and her wishes. And now even that link to her is gone.

The baby was one bright spot in this whole ordeal for him, and now....

[Lindacooks]

7. Oh, that's just terrible. Her poor husband and child.

[Up2Late]

8. I had a feeling that they should waited a few more weeks to birth the Baby

(I guess that's what you would call it?)

I think the Baby faced a far grater chance of death from being so premature that it did from getting cancer from the mother.

[Iris]

13. I don't think there was a risk of the baby getting cancer so much

as the woman's body simply giving out and possibly causing a toxic environment for the child.

[Ilsa]

21. I'm trying to remember how early the baby was.

I have post further down about the need for human milk for preemies.

[Up2Late]

36. I think it was 26 weeks, but don't quote me on that

That seemed very early to me. I think is was less than 2 pounds.

[Ilsa]

37. I htink the survival rate is at least 80%, but there are so many possible

complications, especially since the mother's body was so ill.

[Danmel]

9. So so sad

That poor family- my sympathy to all involved- it's hard to even imagine.

[underpants]

10. Very sad

[LiberalinNC]

11. So sad. There was so much hope for this baby!

Deepest condolences to the family.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. Oh, this is just awful.

There's really nothing I can add. What a horrible outcome.

[MissB]

14. So sad.

That poor father.

[lynne]

15. How very sad -

- I was so happy that the child was born and was hopeful that she would be okay. My eldest was very premature, born at 27 weeks like this baby. We were really rooting for this little girl.

My heart goes out to this family. I cannot imagine how heartbroken they must be.

[Coventina]

16. My heartfelt condolences to the family

:cry:

[theHandpuppet]

17. How does an infant get a perforated intestine?

This is such a sad story -- I'm just puzzled because I can't imagine how an infant gets a perforated intestine -- which is what led to infection and eventual heart failure.

[Ilsa]

22. Usually from formula feedings, rarely from breastmilk

feedings. Unless they were using a milk bank, the baby probably was getting fortifier in a formula. It can wreak havoc on such a young gut. Even full term babies can get perforations and necrotizing enterocolitis but it is much, much less frequent with breastfed infants.

A few years ago, a study showed that preemies getting human milk had a less than 1% chance of developing NEC, whereas formula fed preemies rate was 14%. Breastfed preemies get discharged much faster from hospitals because of good health and growth.

[Up2Late]

40. I don't know if you have or are in favor of Breast feeding, but from...

...you answer, you do seem in favor of brest feeding, so I just wanted to tell you.

My sister brest fed her 3 babies, which was new for our family (my Brother and Sisters and I were all "bottle babies").

Now, I've become so used to mothers brest feeding, that if I see a mother bottle feeding a baby, I almost have to mentally slap myself, because I almost want to ask them why they are not breast feeding the baby. Bottle feeding almost seems cold and uncaring to me now.

It's weird how fast my mind switched gears to thinking that bottle feeding was the odd practice.

[sandnsea]

42. Because some women hate it

And some babies do too. The odd practice is letting babies starve all over the world, moms who are feeding their children are not odd at all.

You have no idea how hurtful that kind of judgmentalness can be to a new mother. It really needs to stop.

[lynne]

31. The article doesn't elaborate -

- but I would bet that the child fell victim to "Necrotizing Enterocolitis" commonly referred to as NEC. It is a fairly common disease of preemies that involves inflammation of the bowel wall, infection, and - if not resolved - death.

My own child had it and almost died. That was the one and only "you had better come now" phone call I received from the NICU.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

18. Man v. Nature

Without question, this is a heartbreaking story, from every angle.

But, the woman died. All of mankind's best technology was used to keep her "alive," so to speak, so that this poor child could come to term, or get as close to term as possible.

That's so unnatural as to be supernatural.

In the end, as we now know, the child died, too, and that is precisely how it was supposed to be. Lamentable and tragic as it is, the women died when she was pregnant, and that was where it was to end. Man's intervention failed, and Nature triumphed. The romanticized and well-meaning experiment to keep the gestation going simply didn't work. It wasn't supposed to.

I wonder when we, as a species, are going to catch on that we really can control very little.

[question everything]

23. Or, more precisely, in this case

we need to learn to accept that death comes in the end, for all of us.

If ever we will have a national health care, it will have many restrictions and quotas. People like Teri Schiavo, of course, but also many loved ones whom we keep "alive" tethered to tubes and machines because we just cannot let go - will not be kept alive.

Same with poor Susan Torres. Yes, she, apparently, refused chemotherapy to keep her pregnancy, but in the end her body gave up.

This thread is really about the sad story, from beginning to end, but it probably also tells us that a woman's body is not just a baby incubator. That for a healthy baby to develop, even if a preemie, s/he needs a healthy, living mother.

[KittyWampus]

26. how about we learn physical death is just a transformation and not an

actual 'end' at all?

[Zhade]

35. It's tough to learn something for which there is little to no evidence.

Believe? Sure.

Learn? You have to have something to learn in the first place.

Of course, if you've GOT evidence, I'm all ears.

(Full disclosure: while an atheist, I do not think death is the end of everything. I suspect that there is another level, or persistence of consciousness, or whatever. Of course, I'm intellectually honest enough to not claim what I suspect as proven fact.)

[Radio_Lady]

41. Sorry, cryingshame, but I don't accept your viewpoint.

To me, death is the end to it all. Unless someone can prove to me differently, I'm sure I will believe it until I draw my last breath. This has freed me from contemplating all of the "what if's" and "whens" and "hows".

Many of us believe that death is a finality to human life and welcome this. Of course, with no reason to feel there is "something" after this life, you can go in either direction.

Make the most of what we have. Be the best we can be in this life to others and to ourselves.

Or prefer to fantasize about the "transformation" at the "end" and what comes after physical death.

Philosophers discuss it, and you and I can waste our time trying to convince each other.

However, please don't bother. I've had enough people try to give me their "proof" and I'd prefer not to be disturbed by your rationalizations.

In peace,

Radio Lady

[LisaL]

48. She did not refuse anything to keep her pregnancy.

It was a sudden collapse, she didn't know she had cancer.
She had a skin cancer years ago, but thought she was in the clear when she got pregnant.

[kskiska]

24. It creeped me out

If the fetus was viable at the time of death, a caesarian would have been in order. But keeping a dead body going for so long was freaky.

[RobinA]

47. Not Only

did it creep me out, but I always wonder in these medical miracle baby stories what it's doing to the existing, regular children.

[Radio_Lady]

38. OldLeftieLawyer, I agree with you completely. Nature usually knows

when to take out a life and even how to do it. It's one of the laws of the jungle -- but we don't like to admit we're part of the jungle.

This is a story about dogs, but it's still interesting. When I was fifteen years old, I had a pet-quality Boston Terrier bitch that I bred to one of the great champions of the breed, Ch. Regardless, who at the time was 14 years old. We had to "help" him on and off my "Dolly" and since they didn't "lock" -- we weren't even sure if the breeding took.

However, "Dolly" was clearly pregnant and she "free-whelped" SEVEN MALE PUPPIES! (Free whelping means without a Caesarean section, which is how that big-headed breed usually brings forth its pups, but that's another story.)

Six of the puppies were strong and began to suckle. But one little guy, whom we didn't name, started to suckle -- and milk came out of his nose. My father checked the puppy's mouth. Sure enough, it had a complete cleft palate and hare lip. This is uncorrectable in dogs (at least, it was in the 1950s), so we knew we had to put the puppy down. My father drew a bucket of water, held the puppy under water for a few minutes, then took its inert form out to the backyard to bury it.

Night fell, and for some reason, one of us heard a high pitched squeal around 10 PM. We went out to check it -- and there was the "dead" puppy wiggling around. Apparently, another dog must have come along and scraped the earth where he was buried. Maybe even gave the pup a lick or two to get it moving again.

Well, I begged and begged the vet to do something. However, in the end, we had to give it a lethal injection.

Just an anecdote as a reminder that nature does known best, although we as humans do OUR best to circumvent the inevitable.

Sad story for the family. But perhaps they can all now move on with some closure at some point.

[progressivebydesign]

19. How incredibly heartbreaking for the family. n/t

[Ilsa]

20. This is a horribly tragic situation.

Yet, it doesn't surprise me because a baby born so prematurely has a much harder time without their mothers' milk to help them survive. Breastmilk is chemically designed to be just what a baby needs at that stage of gestation. Mortality rates fall significantly because breastmilk is easily digested, causing fewer perforations and less necroenterocolitis (gangrene of the gut)

[lynne]

51. My 27 week preemie had NEC -

- yet she was fed only my breastmilk which I pumped for her. In fact, I pumped for the entire NICU and the mothers signed a release to let their infants be fed my breastmilk. My daughter recovered from her bout of NEC.

NEC is not unknown in breastfed babies, especially the very premature.

[BlueIris]

25. Pregnant DUers: LIVING WILL.

If you would not want to be kept alive after brain death under these or other circumstances, make your feelings known to your friends and family.

[histohoney]

33. Have a living will, yes!

But as I recall the whole of her friends and family felt this indeed would be her wish. She had refused chemo and radiation earlier for the sake of the baby.
But, yes ,yes every body should have a living will. I have on copy at my house, one at my parents and the original at my G.P.'s. Same for my husband.

[LisaL]

50. No, she didn't. She didn't even know she had cancer when

she collapsed.

[sandnsea]

43. Also if you would

I can't think of any more important reason to have my body kept alive than to deliver my child. I don't understand people who don't get that. But it's their choice and other people's choices shouldn't be ridiculed or disrespected.

[PatsFan2004]

27. A double tragedy now. How very tragic.

I wonder what the exact legal situation was since she was officially brain-dead (I believe this means officially dead). Would a living will apply where a fetus is viable? Would it apply where a fetus is under-developed?

In a hypothetical case, might the fact that a mother specifically avoids chemotherapy for the sake of her unborn child be used as an issue in a living will case if she didn't get around to changing it for such an exception.

[RamboLiberal]

28. What a shame - I feel so bad for the husband and family

:cry:

[barb162]

29. geez...sad, sad....

[SoCalDem]

30. How sad...

It's too bad they could not have waited a bit longer so the baby was not so premature:(

[AzDar]

32. That's awful... Too much grief for one family. Bless them. n/t

[wiley]

34. I wish the baby had lived, as well as the mother

Women are so amazing.
Hang in there daddy.


O8)

[Endangered Specie]

39. Congress didn't pass a law for them?

:sarcasm:

[LisaL]

49. What law would you have congress to pass?

There was no one in the family that wanted her life support disconnected.

[applegrove]

44. Very sad. I really hope the little one was comfortable & happy in the

time that was. So hard for the family.

[ladylibertee]

45. Thats very sad

[Judi Lynn]

46. Very sad, from beginning to end.

I've never seen anyone address how this child would cope after learning at some later age, the circumstances of her birth.

I would think bearing that knowledge would be terrifying, isolating, and depressing beyond endurance. Permanently.

I hope there is a continuing life we can't see from here. It seems to contain the only hope of comfort for the unsurmountable suffering which seems to afflict some very good people.