If a sudden medical emergency left you brain dead while you were pregnant, would you want to be kept on life support until your baby was born? No, I'm not talking about Marlise Munoz, the pregnant woman kept on life support against her husband's wishes. Robyn Benson is being kept alive until she can deliver her baby-- and it's exactly what her husband, Dylan, wants.
Just after the holidays, Robyn complained about a "terrible, terrible" headache. Dylan went to get her some Tylenol only to find her unconscious by the time he returned. Robyn was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered she had suffered a brain hemorrhage; they declared her brain dead. Imagine the heartbreak for Dylan and the rest of Robyn's family! Their impending joy cut short by this unexpected tragedy.
But there was still one flicker of hope. Robyn's baby is developing normally. After five weeks in the hospital, doctors give the baby, who Dylan has named Iver, an 80 percent chance of living. They hope to deliver Iver in seven more weeks. "It is very difficult to know that our son will grow up never meeting his wonderful mother, and that we will have to say our goodbyes to Robyn within hours of seeing Iver for the first time," Dylan wrote in a blog post.
Shortly after doctors deliver Iver via C-section, they will remove Robyn from life support. Her life will end just as his begins.
Robyn will have been 34 weeks pregnant by that time. You can only imagine how she would feel about this situation, but I believe she would have wanted her body to be kept on a ventilator so she could leave her husband with the child they created together. And I don't think she'd be unique in that respect. I think it's a choice many women would make, if they knew their baby was developing normally and stood a high chance of being loved and living a healthy life.
Dylan has set up a fundraising site for Baby Iver.
Would you want to be kept alive if you were pregnant but brain dead and knew your baby would be loved and stand a good chance of surviving?
Image via CBC