Woman, 25, gives birth to baby girl while in coma
At 32 weeks pregnant Caitlin Stubbs suffered a catastrophic brain bleed and fell into a coma, leaving doctors with no option but to remove her baby via caesarean.
The 25-year-old mother gave birth to baby Quinn on July 24 at Royal Brisbane Hospital, but is yet to find out given she’s still unconscious trying to recover from an Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM).
Quinn spent the first three weeks of her life in intensive care while her mother fought numerous infections and ongoing bleeds in her brain.
Ms Stubbs was hospitalised in November with a smaller brain bleed, but her radiation was put off when she fell pregnant unexpectedly.
Just weeks before calling an ambulance for her after she complained of a neck ache, her partner Jonathon Welsh asked her to be his wife.
He now stares down the barrel of an uncertain future, unsure if his fiancé will live to watch Quinn grow up.
According to a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Ms Stubbs’ medical treatment, Mr Welsh has been “by her side watching hopelessly”.
He has been finding moments for Quinn, who was discharged from hospital last week, to spend time with her mother by placing the infant on Ms Stubbs’ chest.
While the mother’s condition has been improving, there is still doubt over if and when she will regain consciousness.
If she awakes, she will require “extensive rehabilitation plus future surgeries”, according to her sister, Jayne Franke, who set up the fundraising page.
“She will require intensive Physiotherapy, OT and Speech Therapy among other remedial therapies,” she wrote.
“Funds will be used to cover medical costs, treatments, a wheelchair and home modifications needed to get her home eventually.
“Caitlin is a gorgeous young woman faced with an incredibly difficult future.”
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