Published: 6:28PM Friday December 18, 2009
Source: ONE News
Source: ONE News18 Kids and Counting - the Duggar family show
Michelle Duggar's 19th baby was born prematurely weighing only one pound, six ounces, because her mother suffered pre-eclampsia her doctor tells People.com
Pre-eclampsia, a fairly rare condition during pregnancy that causes high blood pressure, affects five to 8% of all pregnancies.
Michelle and Jim Duggar and their children feature in a popular US reality TV show called 18 Kids and Counting.
All of their children have names starting with the letter J and are home-schooled in a conservative Baptist faith.
The condition was discovered when Michelle Duggar was admitted to hospital in pain with a gall bladder problem, says People.
"The obstetrical and neonatal teams reached the collaborative decision [Thursday] that Mrs Duggar needed an emergency C-section to ensure the blood pressure problem would not be detrimental to her or the baby," says the doctor's statement.
Daughter Josie Brooklyn was born last Friday and is in stable condition in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit and her mother is recovering well from surgery.
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