Woman in coma for 10 years gives birth

PHOENIX: A woman said to have been in a vegetative state for at least a decade at a private health care facility in Phoenix reportedly gave birth recently, triggering a police investigation and reviews by state agencies in a situation that the state governor’s office called “deeply troubling”. Azfamily.comfirst reported on Thursday that, according to sources, a woman living at a Hacienda HealthCare facility gave birth on December 29. According to some reports, the woman was a victim of a near-drowning more than 10 years ago.

Sources quoted in the reports said the woman was heard to be moaning and that the baby’s head was starting to emerge when a nurse came in. “None of the staff were aware that she was pregnant until she was pretty much giving birth,” azfamily.com quoted a source as saying. That person said the baby was said to be alive and healthy.

A police department spokesman, sergeant Tommy Thompson, said only that the “the matter is under investigation”. He declined to confirm probe involved a sex crime. Hacienda said it was cooperating with law enforcement and reviewing its security protocols. According to the Arizona department of health services the facility was required to tighten security procedures in wake of the report.