Maternal Brain Death During Pregnancy

Abstract

We present in detail a case of a 27-year-old primigravida who was maintained in a brain-dead state for nine weeks. An apparently normal and healthy male infant weighing 1440 g was delivered. The newborn did well and was found to be growing and developing normally at 18 months of age. Although the technical aspects of prolonged life support are demanding and the economic costs are very high ($217 784), there are ample ethical arguments justifying the separation of brain death and somatic death and the maintenance of the brain-dead mother so that her unborn fetus can develop and mature. (JAMA1988;260:816-822)