共用题干 第二篇

Brain-dead Mother Dies after Giving Birth

A brain-dead woman who was kept alive for three months so she could deliver the child
she was carrying was removed from life support on Wednesday and died,a day after giving
birth.
"This is obviously a bittersweet time for our family,"Justin Torres,the woman"s
brother-in-law,said in a statement.
Susan Torres,a cancer-stricken,26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of
Health,suffered a stroke in May after the melanoma（黑瘤）spread to her brain.
Her family decided to keep her alive to give her foetus（胎儿）a chance. It became a
race between the foetus" development and the cancer that was destroying the woman"s
body.
Doctors said that Torres" health was getting worse and that the risk of harm to the foetus
finally outweighed the benefits of extending the pregnancy.
Torres gave birth to a daughter by Caesarean section（剖腹产手术）on Tuesday at
Virginia Hospital Center.The baby was two months premature and weighed about a
kilogram.She was in the newborn intensive care unit.
Dr. Donna Tilden-Archer , the hospital"s director of neonatology（新生儿学）,described
the child as"very vigorous".She said the baby had responded when she received
stimulation,indicating she was healthy.
Doctors removed Torres from life support early Wednesday with the consent of her
husband , Jason Torres , after she received the final sacrament（圣礼）of the Roman
Catholic Church.
"We thank all of those who prayed and provided support for Susan,the baby and our
family,"Jason Torres said in a statement."We especially thank God for giving us little
Susan.My wife"s courage will never be forgotten."
English-language medical}iterature contains at least 11 cases since 1 979 of irreversibly
brain-damaged women whose lives were prolonged for the benefit of the developing foetus,
according to the University of Connecticut Health Center.
Dr.Christopher McManus,who coordinated care for Susan Torres,put the infant"s
chances of developing cancer at less than 25 per cent.He said 19 women who have had the
same aggressive form of melanoma as Torres have given birth,and five of their
babies became ill with the disease. Susan Torres had been put on life support so