Beiruting News

A car crash victim who was in a coma virtually her entire pregnancy has given birth to a healthy daughter.

Doctors said it is one of few known cases in the United States in which a comatose woman was able to carry a baby to full term.

The mother, Chastity Cooper, 24, has slowly improved since the November accident but still cannot move or talk. She is in a vegetative state, able to open her eyes and follow people around the room

Her daughter, Alexis Michelle, weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces, was born on Monday at University Hospital.

"It went really well, better than expected," Dr. Michael Hnat, a neonatologist, said of the four-hour delivery. "I just hope that one day she wakes up to see her baby and hopefully remembers being pregnant."

Steve Cooper showed his daughter off at a news conference yesterday. The couple also have two sons, ages four and three.

"She's precious. We waited for this baby a long time and she's absolutely adorable," he said.

Mrs Cooper, of Warsaw, Kentucky, suffered head injuries on November 25 when her car slid into the path of another car on a rain-slick road. She was on her way to meet her husband at a family gathering.

Routine tests done in the emergency room revealed that she was two weeks pregnant.