Woman gives birth after 14 years in coma

Police in Phoenix, Arizona, United States are investigating how a
woman in coma for more than 14 years gave birth at Hacienda Healthcare,
a nursing facility.

A local CBS News affiliate, Arizona’s Family, first reported the
incident Thursday. According to their report, the victim, who remains
unidentified, gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Dec. 29.

A whistleblower, who remains anonymous, told the CBS News affiliate that none of the staff knew she was pregnant, thehill.com reported

“None of the staff were aware that she was pregnant until she was
pretty much giving birth,” she said in a TV segment that disguised her
voice and hid her face. “From what I’ve been told she was moaning. And
they didn’t know what was wrong with her.”

In a statement, Hacienda HealthCare said it would also conduct an “internal review” to evaluate patient safety.

“As an organization, Hacienda HealthCare stands fully committed to
getting to the truth of what, for us, represents an unprecedented
matter,” spokeswoman Nancy Salmon told Arizona’s Family.

“We are already conducting a comprehensive internal review of our
processes, protocols, and people to ensure that every single Hacienda
resident is as safe and well cared for as possible. Anything less than
that is unacceptable to our team, our company’s leaders and the
communities we serve.”

The victim has reportedly been a patient at Hacienda HealthCare
facility in Phoenix for at least a decade after nearly drowning and
falling into a coma.

Male staff are no longer allowed in the rooms of female patients at the facility as the investigation is underway.

The Arizona Department of Health Services said in a statement that it is also helping with the investigation.