A giant leap of faith: Brain dead, pregnant mother kept alive for 54 days for delivery

Editor’s note: The copy originally stated that the mother was kept alive for 54 weeks, while that was a wrong fact. She was actually kept alive for 54 days. We have made the correction in the headline and copy. We apologise for any inconvenience.    In a heart-warming incident, a brain-dead pregnant mother was kept alive for over 54 days so that her baby could survive. [caption id=“attachment_2227246” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Baby boy Angel Perez. Image from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MethodistHealthSystem[/caption] Karla Perez, 22, collapsed at her Waterloo, Nebraska home after she suffered a brain bleed on February 8. Her brain was then declared dead, while she was 22 weeks pregnant, reports the Washington Post. “At 22 weeks, the baby can’t survive outside the uterus or outside of the womb, so if we were going to try and give baby Angel any chance of survival, we would have to try and prolong Karla’s pregnancy for as long as possible,” Todd Lovgren, a doctor at Methodist Women’s Hospital Perinatal Center, said in the report. According to People Magazine, a team of more than 100 doctors, nurses and staff kept Karla alive for more than 54 days, just enough to deliver the baby via cesarean section. Her baby boy Angel Perez was born on April 4, and two days later Karla passed away.  He weighed  two pounds and 12.6 ounces. “Our team took a giant leap of faith,” Sue Korth, vice president and COO of Methodist Women’s Hospital, said in a statement, adding, “We were attempting something that not many before us have been able to do.” Additionally, Karla’s organs helped save three people who were waiting for a transplant, reports Fox News. Angel is healthy now is still in the hospital under observation.