Al Ain: In a rare surgery, a team of doctors at the Tawam Hospital managed to remove a child from his mother's womb, ten weeks after her clinical death.
The 28-week old child is under special medical supervision, an official at the hospital told Gulf News.
The official said the mother was clinically dead but the medical team took the decision to keep her on a life support system as the foetus inside the womb was still alive.
"The medical team decided to keep the mother alive and pumped blood and oxygen to keep the foetus alive. The process is called artificial life," said the official.
The official said it was the first such case to have happened in the UAE. It also reflects the advancement of medical technologies that is being used at the hospital, he added.
The Emirati woman, who was around seven months pregnant, died of a brain haemorrhage. However, the medical team found that the foetus was alive and when it reached 28 weeks, they performed surgery to bring it out.
It is one of the rarest cases in the world, said the official. The baby is now kept in a special incubator under the supervision of a skilled medical team.
Gulf News tried to contact members of the family involved but none was available.
The mother of the baby was buried last week.
Similar to a stroke
A brain haemorrhage is caused when an artery bursts in the brain, leading to bleeding in the surrounding tissue. Also called a cerebral haemorrhage, it is a kind of a stroke which can occur after a head trauma or injury, high blood pressure or an aneurysm. A weakening in a blood vessel can swell and burst leading to bleeding in the brain, causing a stroke. Early recognition of a brain haemorrhage can expedite tests and treatments and save a patient's life.
