Baby Delivered From Brain-Dead Woman On Life Support In Georgia

The baby of a Georgia woman who was declared brain dead and has been on life support since February was reportedly delivered on Friday (June 13).

According to WXIA-TV, the baby of 31-year-old Adriana Smith was delivered prematurely by an emergency cesarean section, her mom, April Newkirk, said. Smith, who was brain dead and on life support, was roughly six months into her pregnancy when the baby, named Chance, was delivered. Chance, who weighs about 1 pound and 13 ounces, is currently in the neonatal intensive care unit.

“He’s expected to be okay,” Newkirk said. “He’s just fighting. We just want prayers for him."

At nine weeks pregnant, Newkirk previously said her daughter, a registered nurse at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, began having headaches. Smith went to Northside Hospital, where she was later released after being given medication. “They gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests, didn’t do any CT scans. If they did, they would have caught it,” Newkirk said.

The next morning, Smith's boyfriend noticed she was "gasping for air in her sleep, gargling. More than likely, it was blood,” Newkirk recalled. After being taken to Emory University Hospital, Smith was declared brain dead following a CT scan that showed several blood clots in her brain.

Smith remains on life support months later because doctors allegedly told the family that they had to keep her alive until her baby could live outside the womb. The family said they weren't given any other alternatives for her care due to Georgia's heartbeat law, which bans abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. This usually takes place around six weeks of pregnancy.

Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr later issued a statement saying the law did not require doctors to keep a woman declared brain dead on life support.“Removing life support is not an action ‘with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy,;” Carr said.

Smith is set to be taken off life support on Tuesday (June 17).

“I’m her mother,” Newkirk said. “I shouldn’t be burying my daughter. My daughter should be burying me.”

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