PHOENIX (AP) — 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.com, a news website for television stations KPHO and KTVK, first reported late Thursday that, according to sources not identified by the website, a woman gave birth Dec. 29 living at a Hacienda HealthCare facility where the staff was unaware that she was pregnant.
According to some reports, the woman was a victim of a near-drowning more than 10 years ago. Her identity hasn’t been reported, and it’s not known if she has family or a guardian.
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 familiar with the situation as saying. That person said the baby was said to be alive and healthy.
Following the azfamily.com report, Hacienda Health Care and state officials issued brief statements about the situation, expressing concern and describing reviews being conducted and steps being taken. But they did not specifically confirm the reported pregnancy and birth.
A Phoenix Police Department spokesman, Sgt. Tommy Thompson, said only that the “the matter is under investigation.” He declined to confirm whether the investigation involved a possible sex crime or elaborate on the circumstances that prompted the investigation.
