The family of Adriana Smith, a Georgia woman who was declared brain-dead earlier this year while pregnant, is now preparing to say their final goodbyes after doctors successfully delivered her baby, a boy named Chance.
Smith, who began experiencing severe headaches during her pregnancy in February, was initially sent home from the hospital with medication. But after a devastating medical episode days later, she was rushed back to the hospital where doctors discovered multiple inoperable blood clots in her brain. She was pronounced brain-dead shortly afterward.
Due to Georgia law, Adriana’s pregnancy could not be terminated. Physicians were legally and ethically compelled to maintain life-sustaining care until the baby could be safely delivered — a process that took nearly four months.
Last week, doctors at the hospital performed a cesarean section to deliver baby Chance, who weighed just 1 pound and 13 ounces. The newborn remains in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where doctors say he is “fighting” but is expected to survive.
Adriana’s mother, April Newkirk, shared the emotional news in an interview with 11 Alive News, saying the family is now preparing for Adriana to be taken off life support.
“It’s kind of hard, you know. It’s hard to process. I’m her mother,” April said tearfully. “I shouldn’t be burying my daughter. My daughter should be burying me. If I could say one more thing to her, I guess I would tell her that I love her and that she was a great daughter.”
The story has raised renewed attention on the intersection of maternal health, legal mandates, and medical ethics in cases where life support is prolonged due to pregnancy.
While Adriana Smith’s passing is a devastating loss for her loved ones, her son’s birth brings some good news to a family whose strength has been tested for months by an unimaginable tragedy.
Baby Chance’s health will continue to be monitored closely in the NICU over the coming weeks as he grows stronger.
