Brain-Dead Mother’s Baby Dies After 5 Weeks

A 5-week-old baby, whose brain-dead mother had been kept on life support for three months to allow the child to be born, died after undergoing emergency surgery.

Susan Anne Catherine Torres, who was born about 13 weeks premature, died of heart failure at Children’s National Medical Center after surgeons tried to repair a perforated intestine, a family statement said. The infant’s condition had deteriorated rapidly over the weekend, the family said.

Susan Rollin Torres, 26, of Arlington, Va., suffered a stroke in May after melanoma spread to her brain. A day after giving birth, she was taken off life support and died.