Woman with brain cancer gives birth while in a coma, dies 3 days later

[Update, Sept 22]: Carrie Deklyen fought hard to give her daughter a chance at survival but Life Lynn Deklyen died about two weeks after she was born.

Since her birth, the premature baby stayed in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and struggled with fluctuating oxygen and blood pressure levels, as well as water on the brain.

Despite her family’s and medical staff’s best efforts to save her, Life died on Thursday (Sept 21).

She will be buried together with her mother who succumbed to brain cancer on Sept 9, Life’s aunt wrote in a Facebook post.

“It is with great sadness and an absolutely broken heart that I tell you Life Lynn passed away last night. Carrie is now rocking her baby girl.”


How great is a mother's love?

For one woman from Michigan, United States, it meant foregoing chemotherapy for the sake of her unborn daughter.

Carrie DeKlyen, 37, delivered her sixth child last Thursday (Sept 7) after carrying her for nearly 25 weeks.

But she could not greet her newborn as a stroke in July had left her in a coma.

As she became "completely unresponsive" this month, her baby had to be delivered because she was sick, DeKlyen's sister-in-law said in a Facebook post on Sept 3.

DeKlyen was taken off life support on Sept 8 and died a day later.

She was first diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer that affects the brain or spinal cord, in April this year.

Common symptoms include headaches, nausea, vomiting, and seizures, according to Mayo Clinic. The condition is difficult to treat and incurable.

When DeKlyen's doctor told her that she would die if she didn't terminate the pregnancy, she said "We're keeping it," her husband Nick told People magazine.

To increase her chances of carrying the baby to term, she underwent four major brain surgeries to remove the tumour but additional treatment was needed to kill remaining cancer cells.

Their family then set up a Facebook page named Cure 4 Carrie and documented her journey with brain cancer.

Besides the baby, who has been named Life Lynn Deklyen, the couple has five other children aged between one and 18.

After her death, DeKlyen's husband said that he will raise their children on his own.

And when Life grows up, he will tell her "how amazing her mother was," he told ABC News.

"My kids have been so lucky to call her Mum."

Also read: 26-year-old woman delays cancer treatment to deliver baby

minlee@sph.com.sg