Two days after being declared brain dead, a British woman has given birth
to a healthy baby girl.

ITN -
A premature but healthy baby girl has been born to a woman who had
been declared brain dead two days previously, media reported on Tuesday
(January 13).

Doctors at Oxford's John Radcliffe hospital delivered the baby last
Friday (January 9) by Caesarean section at 25 weeks, weighing just over 2 lb
(0.972 kg).

Her mother Jayne Soliman, a 41-year-old former ice-skating star who had
competed at international level, did not recover after suffering a brain
haemorrhage when she collapsed at home.

Doctors kept the mother's heart beating for 48 hours after she was
declared brain dead in order to deliver the baby. They gave her two large
doses of steroids to help the baby's lungs develop.

They turned off the life support shortly after the girl was born.
Her Egyptian-born father has named her "Aya" which means
miracle in Arabic.