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Panicked 911 call on woman in vegetative state giving birth: 'Baby's turning blue'

"One of our patients just had a baby and we had no idea she was pregnant," a woman who identified herself as a nurse said in the call.
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Police in Phoenix, Arizona, released dramatic audio Friday of a 911 call placed by a nurse at a long-term care facility after a woman who has been in a vegetative state for years gave birth.

Staff at a Hacienda Healthcare center in Phoenix where a woman who has been in a vegetative state for nearly a decade gave birth last month were unaware of the patient's pregnancy. A 911 call was made after staff delivered the baby and discovered the child wasn't breathing.

"One of our patients just had a baby and we had no idea she was pregnant," a woman who identified herself as a nurse said in the call. "Baby's turning blue. We need someone now."

In the roughly five-minute call, the panicked nurse told emergency dispatch that "this was a complete surprise, we were not expecting this." Other staff members in the background of the audio administered CPR to the baby until the child began breathing.

Police were called to the Hacienda HealthCare center at around 3:42 p.m. on Dec. 29, according to statements by police and Hacienda. The baby and mother were transported to a local hospital where both are recovering, according to police.

A sexual assault investigation has been opened into the case as police said that the woman "was not in position to give consent to any of this."

Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said Wednesday that DNA samples are "going to be one of the key evidentiary factors we’ll use in investigating this and bringing it to a closure."

Investigators issued a search warrant Tuesday seeking DNA samples from male staff members at Hacienda Healthcare. The facility, which has called the situation "deeply disturbing," said it welcomed the development.

A lawyer for the woman's family meanwhile said they are "traumatized and in shock" by the "abuse and neglect" of their daughter but that "the baby boy has been born into a loving family and will be well cared for."

The San Carlos Apache Tribe said in a statement to NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix that the woman is a 29-year-old member of the tribe, and that she has been in a persistent vegetative state and coma for over a decade.