A BRAVE MUM has left doctors stunned after waking up from a 23-day coma the moment her newborn son was placed in her arms.

Amanda da Silva's natural instincts were so strong that despite not even remembering giving birth, she started to produce milk as soon as she felt her baby resting on her chest.

The 28-year-old mum-of-three said: "The first thing I remember was having Victor in my arms, seeing his little head and smelling his lovely scent."

“It was an amazing situation but at the same time confusing.

"I asked my dad if the baby was mine. I put my hand on my belly and realised I was no longer pregnant."

The Brazilian housewife, who lives with epilepsy, was 37 weeks pregnant when she was rushed to hospital after having an acute seizure.

The convulsions threatened Amanda and her baby's lives as they lowered oxygen to the brain and womb.

It was intensive care nurse, Fabíola Sá, who first suggested the idea of putting mother and son together in a bid to bring Amanda back out of her comatose state.

Nurse Sá, who works at Ceara’s Assis Chateubriand Maternity Hospital (MEAC) in Fortaleza, northeast Brazil, recalled: "Her response was immediate.

"After 23 days in a coma, her reaction was inexplicable.

“We never expected such a quick change and everyone in the medical team wept with happiness and relief.”

Doctors had to perform an emergency caesarean while Amanda was under sedation for her epilepsy, but complications arose after the c-section and they decided to put her in a medically induced coma to stabilise her condition.

Victor was born weighing just 4.6lbs with a week immune system and respiratory problems due to the amount of medication his mother was taking to stabilise her epilepsy during her pregnancy.

He was sent straight to a neonatal care unit for six days before both mother and son were reunited in intensive care some days later.

Obstetrician Carlos Alencar said: “Just over a week after she was admitted to hospital we began removing the sedatives that kept her asleep, but she didn’t respond as we expected.

“Although all the exams testified that she had a good neurological response, she didn’t move.

“We applied pain stimuli, but she didn’t react. The exams showed brain activity, but the areas of activity weren’t responding to anything specific, not even to the voices of relatives.

"She didn’t move her arms, legs or anything."

Just as they began to run out of ideas, nurse Sá suggested putting the two together.

After consulting a microbiologist on the potential dangers of placing the newborn with his mum, the nurse went ahead. Amanda was motionless and incapable of holding Victor, so the nurse took her arms and wrapped them around her son – helping her to cradle him on her chest.

And to everyone's surprise, the moment the baby was placed "skin to skin", tears started pouring down Amanda's cheeks.

The unconscious patient's heart rate quickened and she started to produce milk.

"The specialist said there was no risk because the mother didn’t have any infections at that time," the nurse explained.

EPILEPSY AND PREGNANCY

The NHS advises pregnant women not to stop taking anti-epilepsy medication until they've spoken with their GP or specialist.

Most women with the condition have healthy pregnancies and go on to have healthy babies – but there is a slightly higher risk of having children with developmental issues or birth defects (largely caused by certain types of medication).

It's hard to predict how pregnancy will affect epilepsy.

The NHS says: "For some women, their epilepsy is unaffected, while others may see an improvement in their condition.

"However, as pregnancy can cause physical and emotional stress, as well as increased tiredness, your seizures may become more frequent and severe. If this happens to you, let your doctor, midwife or epilepsy specialist know."

While GPs might suggest switching meds to an alternative treatment, the NHS stresses that it's a really bad idea to alter treatment without an expert's say-so.

"This is because a severe seizure in pregnancy could result in harm or injury to you or your baby."

“As soon as Amanda felt the touch of the baby's skin on hers, tears started pouring down her cheeks. It was a cry of love.

"More than that it was a cry that said: 'I'm still here, I'm alive, I want to live'”.

Doctors wouldn't let Amanda nurse the baby because of all the medications she was on – despite the little baby keeping his mouth open in anticipation.

But Amanda gradually improved – moving her limbs and sitting up in bed.

She's suffered from chronic epilepsy and had to take strong medications since the age of seven.

During her third pregnancy, she was told by doctors to stop using one of her meds because of the risk of foetal abnormality – and using only one drug meant that she then suffered more seizures during the last pregnancy than she had on previous occasions.

MORE ON EPILEPSY

20 days after coming out of the coma, mother and baby were well enough to be discharged from hospital.

Amanda's case is so unusual that medical professionals are now assessing the importance of this type of intervention when a post-natal woman is in a serious medical state.

Nurse Sá said: "We don’t have a scientific answer to what happened but it’s evident we should never underestimate the importance of skin-to-skin contact between mother and child."

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