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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hospital authorities in southwestern Poland said Wednesday that a baby born two months after his mother was put on life support is home and doing fine.
In a rare case, doctors at Wroclaw's University Clinic kept a pregnant woman on life support for 55 days to allow her 17-week fetus to grow until it could be born. Professor Andrzej Kuebler, an anesthesiologist, said it was the youngest pregnancy ever that he is aware of that has been saved in a brain-dead mother.
The 41-year-old woman had a brain tumor that she did not want to have removed due to the risks attached, and that eventually caused terminal brain damage. She was brought to the clinic in November, unconscious, with no brain activity and was put on life support because of the pregnancy. She was pronounced dead when life support was turned off after the birth.
The boy, born in the 26th week by Caesarean section, weighed 1 kilogram, or 2 pounds, 2 ounces. He was put under intensive care and spent three months in an incubator.
Monika Kowalska, a spokeswoman for the clinic, told The Associated Press that he was discharged last week.
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