A baby has been delivered via caesarean section from a brain-dead woman in Georgia, according to her mother, following hospital claims that the state’s abortion laws required her daughter to remain on life support.

Adriana Smith, a 31-year-old nurse, was declared brain-dead earlier this year. Her baby, named Chance, was born prematurely last Friday, her mother, April Newkirk, told local news outlet 11 Alive.

The newborn, weighing 1 pound 13 ounces (approximately 0.8 kg), is currently in a neonatal intensive care unit. “He's expected to be okay,” Newkirk said. “He’s fighting. We just ask for prayers.”

Newkirk also said that Smith is expected to be removed from life support on Tuesday. “It’s devastating,” she added. “As a mother, I shouldn't be burying my child. It should be the other way around.”

The hospital involved has not issued a specific comment on the case but has stated that patient safety and well-being remain its priority.

Smith was hospitalized in February after experiencing severe headaches. She was initially treated and discharged, but the next day she began gasping for air. Doctors at Emory University Hospital later diagnosed her with brain clots and declared her brain-dead, her mother said.

At that time, the pregnancy was still more than three months from full term. However, the hospital reportedly told Smith’s family that she could not be removed from life support due to Georgia’s abortion restrictions, which prohibit termination once fetal cardiac activity is detected — typically around six weeks into pregnancy.

Newkirk previously expressed concern that her grandson might face serious health challenges due to the complications, possibly including blindness or limited mobility. She also criticized the decision to keep her daughter on life support, saying, “That should have been the family’s choice.”

Georgia’s near-total abortion ban was signed into law in 2019 by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, but it only took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending federal protection for abortion rights.