Dead pregnant woman giving birth?

MonaLeigh

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Let's say a woman is 8 or 9 months pregnant and drowns. If she is found within the hour, could the baby still be saved? When does the baby die?
 

JoNightshade

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First: Ew. :) Second: I think it would have to be very soon. Although at that point the baby can function on its own, doesn't it depend upon the mother's blood supply for air? If the mom's heart stopped, it is no longer delivering oxygen to the baby. And since the baby is still inside, it has no outside oxygen source.

That said, my cousin had her oxygen cut off when she was being born for something like 4 minutes. They thought she'd have brain damage but she's fine. An infant's brain is remarkably tough.
 

MonaLeigh

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So it would basically have to be almost immediately. Now that I think of it, my cousin was left inside my aunt (the doctors switched during birth and the new one didn't read she was expecting twins) for over a half hour and he has cerebral palsy.
 

Kathie Freeman

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I've heard or read a number of news reports on this subject with death being caused by accidents, shootings, etc, and the baby has to be extracted almost immediately, even then most don't make it. I think it has something to do with the high level of adrenaline in the mother's blood, but that's just my speculation.
 

Jeff Colburn

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If the mother drowns in VERY cold water, the baby may last a little longer if it cools down enough, but when the mother's heart stops so does all the blood flow.

When blood stops flowing in an adult, this is what happens:
30-60 seconds - unconsciousness
3-4 minutes - brain death begins
5-6 minutes - death

Have Fun,
Jeff
 

jamiehall

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If the mother drowns in VERY cold water, the baby may last a little longer if it cools down enough, but when the mother's heart stops so does all the blood flow.

When blood stops flowing in an adult, this is what happens:
30-60 seconds - unconsciousness
3-4 minutes - brain death begins
5-6 minutes - death

Have Fun,
Jeff

I second this. There are cases of regular drowning victims surviving a surprisingly long time if their brain was cooled enough at the time. If your female character drowned in cold enough water, I expect this would apply to the baby too.
 

Thump

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except the baby is inside the mother bathing in warm liquid. My guess is that it would take too long for the amniotic fluid to cool down enough to cool down the baby enough before oxygen deprivation kills it...
 

jamiehall

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except the baby is inside the mother bathing in warm liquid. My guess is that it would take too long for the amniotic fluid to cool down enough to cool down the baby enough before oxygen deprivation kills it...

Yes, but the brain itself is also inside the body and also bathed in warm liquid. I think that if it is possible for the brain to cool down enough to experience this effect, then anything else inside the body would also have that possibility.