A comatose woman delivered a healthy baby in a California hospital.
Doctors at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, performed a cesarean section on Melissa Carleton, who went into coma after a seizure caused by a brain tumour left her unconscious.
Carleton, 39, was diagnosed with a benign tumor during her second trimester and suffered from constant headaches. She decided to go for surgery after her delivery. However, in March her condition became severe and she was unable to walk from the parking lot to the hospital entrance on a visit. She had a seizure the next morning and had to undergo an emergency surgery. Doctors successfully removed the tumor but because of the seizure she was "unable to fully wake up."
"Two months ago our doctors and I were struggling to ensure that our son would survive and hopefully stay in the womb until he reached 28 weeks old." Brian Lande, Carleton's husband, wrote in the GoFundMe website dedicated to raise funds for Carleton who is a marriage and family therapist.
Lande said he was happy that his son was born safe but also sad that Melissa was in coma. "I know that being able to love this little guy is going to be a wonderful experience, but I also know it's going to be very hard for me to know that I am going to be the one to hold this baby first.," Lande, a Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputy, told abc30 before his son West was born.
He said that he had emotional moments with Carleton since her coma. Thursday Carleton opened eyes and held Lande's hand. "And she was able to reach up and touch my face. She puckered for a kiss," he said.
Carleton's father John Farell, said her interaction with Lande before delivery was her fist since the trauma happened.
According to Lande, Carleton can breastfeed with assistance, and he wants to ensure that the mother and son have "plenty of skin-to-skin time so she can be a mom."
Lande thanked Carleton's supporters on Facebook saying that the ordeal taught them about life and people.
