Miracle! Woman in coma for seven months, delivers healthy baby in northern India
by Surya PrakashA woman, who was in coma for seven months, has delivered a perfectly healthy baby girl in northern India’s Delhi.
The incident happened at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on October 22.
The woman, identified as Shafiya, had sustained serious head injuries while riding pillion, without a helmet on a two-wheeler. It was reported that her burqa had gotten stuck in the wheel of the vehicle, causing the accident. After her initial treatment at the Abdullah hospital in Bulandshahr in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh, Shafiya was moved to the AIIMS where she was in a coma at the Trauma Centre.
She was put on ventilator support at the time of being admitted and taken for emergency surgery, in which a part of her skull bone was removed to decrease pressure on her swollen, damaged brain.
The 23-year-old lady was brought to the AIIMS on April 1 and she was 40 days pregnant at the time of the accident. During her hospitalisation, she has undergone five neurosurgical operations in the last seven months.
There was a lot of discussion on whether to abort the child in the first and second trimesters of Shafiya’s pregnancy. Several ultrasound examinations didn’t reveal any anomalies in her fetus and hence the medical team suggested the woman’s family continue with the pregnancy.
The decision, however, was completely theirs who then chose to go ahead with the pregnancy.
At present, Shafiya is unconscious but not on ventilator support. Occasionally nodding her head to painful stimuli, she spontaneously opens her eyes. With continued rehabilitation support, she stands a 10-15 percent chance of regaining consciousness.
Speaking to Newslions, Dr. Deepak Gupta said, “This is a highly uncommon case. I haven’t come across any such case in my 22-year neurosurgical career at the AIIMS. She is presently in stable condition and is not on ventilator support.”
While opining on the accident, she said, “There is a resistance in wearing helmet while riding pillion, especially from the Muslim and Sikh community. Women, or anyone, who rides pillion on a two-wheeler, should wear helmet.”