ATLANTA — Adriana Smith, a metro Atlanta nurse who was declared brain dead in February while pregnant, has had a baby boy, according to her family.
According to her mother, April Newkirk, Chance was born prematurely on Friday, June 13, around 4:41 a.m. via emergency Cesarean section.
According to Newkirk, Chance weighs approximately 1 pound 13 ounces and is in the NICU.
“He’s expected to be fine,” Newkirk explained. “He is just battling. We just want to pray for him. Please keep praying for him. He’s here now.”
She is currently ready to say goodbye to her daughter. According to Newkirk, the hospital will remove Smith from life support on Tuesday.
“It’s kind of hard, you know,” she added through tears. “It’s hard to process.”
She wished she had more time
“I’m her mother,” she explained. “I should not be burying my daughter.” My daughter should bury me.”
She is now attempting to keep it together for her grandchildren. Smith’s loved ones celebrated his 31st birthday over the weekend.
“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.”
Being diagnosed as brain dead while pregnant.
Smith has been on life support for nearly four months, following a medical emergency caused by blood clots in her brain. Her story gained national attention because it posed uncomfortable concerns regarding Georgia’s abortion law, which prohibits most abortions when heart activity is established at roughly six weeks of pregnancy.
Smith was confirmed brain dead on February 19, eight weeks pregnant. According to Newkirk, doctors informed the family that they were compelled to keep Smith on life support under the state’s abortion statute, House Bill 481, better known as the LIFE Act.
The statute does not specifically address cases involving brain death, but experts and lawmakers say it has caused uncertainty in medical settings.
“These aren’t trivial contradictions. “These are life and death contradictions,” stated State Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes at a recent press conference.
In May, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office clarified:
“There is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death,” spokesman Kara Murray explained. “Removing life support is not an action with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy.”
According to the Associated Press, Emory Healthcare, which manages the hospital, has not explained why doctors decided to keep Smith on life support, other than to declare in a statement that they weighed “Georgia’s abortion laws and all other applicable laws.”
Mom: ‘All women should have a choice regarding their bodies’
Smith’s mother, Newkirk, has spoken publicly to 11Alive about her daughter’s hospitalization, claiming that the law deprives their family of the opportunity to make medical decisions.
“I’m not saying we would have terminated her pregnancy. But I believe we should have had a choice,” Newkirk stated in a prior interview with 11Alive.
She expressed the same sentiment Monday after learning that her grandchild had been born.
“I believe that all women should have a choice over their bodies. “And I think I want people to know that,” she stated.
Smith, a registered nurse, enjoyed her job, according to Newkirk.
“The same field that she worked in is the same people that failed her,” Newkirk pointed out.
She previously stated that her daughter went to Northside Hospital in early February with what she described as a bad headache. She stated Smith had been sent home. According to Newkirk, her daughter became unresponsive after a few hours. Her family then discovered Smith had blood clots in her brain. According to Newkirk, doctors ruled her daughter brain dead.
Doctors planned to deliver the baby at 32 weeks, but Newkirk said Smith needed an emergency C-section on Friday.
Aside from the child, Smith also has a 7-year-old son. He assumes his mother has been asleep the entire time. Newkirk said the family will inform him at a later point that he now has a younger brother.
‘A ray of light’
Newkirk described her daughter as an excellent mother who adored her 7-year-old son and was actively involved in his life. She was pleased to be pregnant again.
“She was a ray of light,” Newkirk explained. “She enjoyed traveling and spending time with her family. She’s a good mother. And she wanted to further her education. “She adored people.”
Newkirk stated that she has gotten an outpouring of support during this struggle, including from Smith’s previous patients.
“Someone wrote me on Facebook and claimed she took care of them during a lung transplant and was excellent. And even when she wasn’t their nurse, she kept checking on them.”
“I think it means a lot that people contact me via email, text messages, Facebook, and social media. That reveals something about her. That suggests that she was a wonderful person. That explains a lot. This is a lot. She was unique. She was remarkable and extremely intelligent from the moment I got her.”
The family continues to raise funds for long-term care and support for both children. An online fundraiser reports rising hospital bills and persistent emotional and financial strain.
“Life has its ups and downs, but this impacted us extremely hard. And we would just like to ask that everyone continue to pray for us and respect our privacy at this time,” Newkirk stated.
