Indian woman, 23, in seven-month coma following freak motorbike accident gives birth to baby girl

An Indian woman left in a coma for seven months following a freak motorbike accident has given birth.

The 23-year-old, known only as Shafiya, was seriously injured in March, just 40 days into her pregnancy, when she fell off a motorbike without a helmet.

Her burqa was trapped in the rear wheel of the vehicle — which was being driven by her partner — while she was riding on the back, local media claimed.

The incident caused the bike to crash and left Shafiya, from Uttar Pradesh in northern India, with considerable head injuries and in a coma.

Despite her condition, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl earlier this month, in what doctors say is a ‘highly unusual’ case. Only a handful of births in similar situations have ever been reported in medical literature.

Shafiya has since undergone five different neurological surgeries at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in Bulandshahr.

She even spent some time on a ventilator and had to have a segment of her skull removed to relieve pressure on her brain from her injuries.

Doctors had been left with the difficult decision over whether to terminate her pregnancy due to her condition.

After an ultrasound showed that Shafiya’s pregnancy was normal, they ultimately recommended to her family that they continue with the pregnancy.

Those in a coma have minimal brain activity and their basic reflexes, such as coughing and swallowing, are reduced. And they won’t usually respond to sound or pain or communicate or move voluntarily.

However, coma patients otherwise remain largely healthy. Their organs still work and can support a growing baby.

Despite having just a 10 to 15 per cent chance of leaving her coma, Shafiya was able to deliver a perfectly healthy baby girl on October 22.

Now off a ventilator, she occasionally moves her head and legs — leaving hope that she might one day get to meet her newborn baby. 

Dr Deepak Gupta, her surgeon, called the case ‘highly unusual’, adding: ‘I haven’t come across any such case in my 22-year neurosurgical career at the AIIMS.

‘She is presently in stable condition and is not on ventilator support.

‘There is a resistance in wearing helmet while riding pillion, especially from the Muslim and Sikh community.

‘Women, or anyone, who rides pillion on a two-wheeler, should wear helmet.’