Perth mum gives birth while in a coma after falling critically ill

A Perth mother who delivered her baby while comatose — and endured an agonising few days before they could meet — says it was “overwhelming” to finally hold her little girl.

Kiri Sheehan was 30 weeks pregnant with Luna, her fifth child, when her family was hit hard by the flu and she fell critically ill.

Sheehan, 28, had pushed through an ongoing cough, severe chest pain and breathing difficulties before deciding to go to the emergency department for the safety of her unborn baby.

She was admitted to Joondalup Health Campus on August 31 as doctors told her she had pneumonia and a collapsed lung.

“After that I kept passing in and out (of consciousness), I pretty much can’t remember anything from that moment on,” Sheehan told 7NEWS.com.au.

‘Didn’t know if I would wake up’

By that night she had been placed in a medically induced coma to stabilise her condition and keep baby Luna safe in the womb, allowing her more time to develop.

But when doctors detected bleeding from a ruptured placenta, they moved quickly to perform a life-saving emergency C-section.

“(My partner) Scott was very worried. Staff played it nice and calm because it was so serious. They didn’t know if I would wake up,” Sheehan said.

Luna — the couple’s first girl after four boys — was born on September 3, a full 10 weeks before her November due date.

She weighed just 1.4kg and was immediately rushed by ambulance from Joondalup to neonatal intensive care at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Subiaco.

Sheehan was eased from her coma five days later, on September 8, and given “little bits of information at a time”.

“It was quite full-on but they told me Luna is OK, that she was safe,” she said.

She was able to see her girl through video calls organised by the hospitals, reassuring her that Luna was going well.

It was three days before Sheehan was well enough to be escorted to Subiaco to meet her little girl and spend their first hour bonding.

“It was an instant connection. There was love, relief and it gave me more motivation to get out of hospital,” Sheehan said.

“It was so beautiful, but really scary as well. She had so many cords and tubes and it was overwhelming but all I could have asked for.”

Sheehan was discharged from hospital a day later, on September 12.

She is slowly beginning to get her mobility back and her chest pain and breathing is improving too but is being monitored.

Sheehan said it was fortunate she made it to the emergency department when she did.

“If I didn’t go to hospital I could have bled out at home and Luna might not have made it,” she said.

Now one month old, Luna has been moved out of intensive care and is getting stronger all the time.

She will remain in hospital for the foreseeable future.

Sheehan said she only now understands the scale of her emergency and thanks hospital staff for their care, generous donors who have contributed to an online fundraiser to help her family, and her partner for encouraging her to go to hospital at a critical time.

“We are overwhelmed with the love and support from everyone. Words can’t describe how thankful and grateful we are to have had help,” she said.

“It has taken so much stress and worry off our shoulders to really be able to put time into our family right now.”