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CNN Sunday Morning

Cincinnati Woman Gives Birth While in Coma

Aired July 29, 2001 - 09:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Doctors and nurses at a Cincinnati hospital say they witnessed a miracle. A woman who fell into a coma when she was two weeks pregnant last week delivered a healthy baby girl.

The story from Lisa Cooney (ph), at CNN affiliate WLWT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE COOPER, FATHER: Turn on the news and it's all these gunshots and its craziness going on, and then something like this happens and there are still people out there trying to reach out and help somebody. It's just, I don't know, it's unexplainable. I can't find the words.

LISA COONEY (ph), WLWT: At a loss for words. It seems to be the common theme surrounding the birth of Alexis Michelle.

COOPER: I just hope that, you know, when Alexis grows up and looks back on all this she'll sense something, she was part of something special, you know.

COONEY (ph): So, it's been home since March, kind of.

COOPER: Really, this has been my second home.

COONEY (ph): The third floor at University Hospital, the maternity center. For months, Steve Cooper says he's been surrounded by his second family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it's just a blessing. It's just a miracle that she's here, what has happened.

COONEY (ph): And it has been a team effort. Doctors, nurses and social workers, all caring for Chastity, the 23-year-old mother who has no idea how deeply she has touched so many.

DR. BAJA SABI (ph): There is no doubt, you know, this what happened to her was against odds. This is why we believe she is a miracle baby.

COONEY (ph): That's Dr. Baja Sabi (ph), the director of obstetrics and gynecology on the enormity of this case. Chastity was only two weeks along when doctors discovered her pregnancy. After months of incredible care and monitoring, it was time.

SABI (ph): Finally, we said let her delivery normally, which was really the ultimate for everybody. We are going to be able to do this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is a patient who has extensive brain injury. She does not know what's happening to her. And then this baby comes out, completely normal, and crying, and I think that is the most incredible moment in my whole experience with labor and delivery.

COONEY (ph): An outcome that makes even the most seasoned veterans choke up.

You seem emotional about it?

SABI (ph): Oh, yeah. I don't know, we have the baby and we still don't know about the mother. But really it's a miracle, I think, this is all that you can say. They hold this experience with her, people like her, again anyway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that's a big lesson that I learned from this whole thing. We really underestimate the capacity of the human being.

COONEY (ph): And perhaps the human spirit.

Steve has a long road ahead with four-year-old Aaron, three-year- old Jacob and baby sister Alexis.

Is she a miracle baby?

COOPER: I think so. Well, I believe all babies are miracles, but for her to pull through with her mom the way they did, I think there is something special.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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