B.C. father welcomes Baby Iver but bids a final farewell to his wife

VICTORIA – A 32-year-old father from Victoria says Saturday was the best and worst day of his life as he welcomed the birth of his son but prepared to say a final farewell to his wife.

Blog posts and family friends say Robyn Benson was five months pregnant in late December when she was admitted to hospital and declared brain dead after complaining of vomiting and a severe headache.

Doctors hoped her body would hold until her baby boy, already named Iver Cohen Benson, could be delivered by caesarean section.

Dylan Benson, Robyn’s husband, says he and medical officials decided Saturday that it was in Iver’s best interests to deliver him that evening.

He says Iver was born at 7:12 p.m. weighing two pounds, 13 ounces, and boasting a little bit of apricot-coloured hair, but on Sunday morning he had to goodbye to his wife who he has known for 16 years.

Benson says there won’t be a service for his wife, but he’d like to thank the public for its support, noting donations to the online Baby Iver Fund have surpassed $144,000.