Post-traumatic coma during pregnancy.

A pregnant woman suffered massive head injuries in an automobile accident at 6 weeks' gestation, but she successfully carried the fetus an additional 7 months. The patient remained comatose and required nasogastric feeding and skilled nursing care. The pregnancy was complicated by a persistent low-grade fever. Premature labor began at 34 weeks' gestation, and 24 hours after rapid vaginal delivery of a live 1640-g female, the mother suddenly died. The child is developing normally at 2 years.