Woman kept on life support for three months gives birth

A CANCER-RAVAGED woman robbed of consciousness by a stroke has given birth after being kept on life support for three months to give her foetus extra time to develop.

Susan Torres, whose plight has attracted support from around the world, gave birth to a daughter on Tuesday by Caesarean section. The delivery went smoothly and the baby “is doing well,” her brother-in-law, Justin Torres, wrote in an email statement to The Associated Press.

It was later confirmed that Ms Torres had died after her life support machine was switched off.

“This is obviously a bittersweet time for our family,” said Justin.

Susan Anne Catherine Torres weighs 1 pound, 13 ounces and is 13 1/2 inches long, he said.

Torres, a 26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health, suffered a stroke on May 7 after aggressive melanoma spread to her brain.

Her husband, Jason, said doctors told him his wife’s brain functions had ceased.

The infant is being monitored in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, about 100 miles north of Richmond.

Jason Torres quit his job to be by his wife’s side, spending each night sleeping in a reclining chair next to her bed. The couple had one other child.

Torres was about seven months’ pregnant when the child was delivered.

Doctors had hoped to hold off on delivering the child until 32 weeks’ gestation. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

A website was set up to help raise money for the family’s medical bills. So far, $400,000 has been donated to the family.