Her mother, April Newkirk, has given an update on Chance, who weighed 1 lb., 13 oz. when he was born, in a new interview
The son of a Georgia woman who gave birth nearly four months after she was declared brain dead while pregnant is still fighting for his life, the family has said.
Adriana Smith -- a registered nurse from Atlanta -- was declared brain dead in February after suffering multiple blood clots in her brain, PEOPLE previously reported.
According to local TV station 11Alive, Smith was around eight weeks pregnant at the time, and was kept alive on life support until she delivered her baby in June.
Smith's baby boy, Chance, weighed around 1 lb., 13 oz. and was taken to the NICU after he was born on June 13 via emergency Cesarean section.
Just over two months later, Smith's mother, April Newkirk, has given an update on the baby's health, revealing he's now just under 5 lbs. and is still fighting to live. The family is hoping Chance will be able to leave the hospital close to the end of September or October, per 11Alive.
"His weight is gradually picking up, but the breathing is what we're concerned with," Newkirk told the outlet on Wednesday, Aug. 27. "So, he's making a little bit of progress, but still some things to do." Newkirk had previously told 11Alive that the baby boy was "just fighting. We just want prayers for him. Just keep praying for him."
While speaking about losing her daughter on Wednesday, Newkirk insisted, "It's not getting any better day by day."
"It's hard because something's been taken away from us, it's hard. You know, I think about her every day, all the time," she added.
Following the 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade, Georgia enacted a ban on abortion after six weeks of gestation. According to law, "no abortion shall be performed if the unborn child has a detectable human heartbeat except in the event of a medical emergency or medically futile pregnancy."
In the state, "medical emergency" is defined as "a condition in which an abortion is necessary in order to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman."
However, 31-year-old Smith's case is considered a legal gray area and doctors reportedly told her family that because she is brain dead, and no longer considered at risk, they are legally required to maintain life support until the fetus reaches viability.
According to 11Alive, the state's abortion law, known as the Life Act, does not clearly address situations involving brain death. After Smith's story made headlines, the Georgia Attorney General's Office said in a statement that the law did not require doctors to maintain life support after a patient had been declared brain dead, the outlet reported.
Newkirk is now calling for change, along with Thelma Edmondson, Smith's grandmother.
"I want them to know that this didn't have to happen. I want them to know that the law needs to be changed. It doesn't need to be altered. It doesn't need to be in effect at all. Women have rights; it's their body," Newkirk told the outlet.
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She previously told the station as the family prepared to say goodbye to Smith and take her off of life support on June 17, "I'm her mother. I shouldn't be burying my daughter. My daughter should be burying me. If I could say one more thing to her, I guess I would tell her that I love her and that she was a great daughter."
Before that, Newkirk had told 11Alive that keeping Smith alive despite her being brain dead was "torture," especially for her 7-year-old grandson, who believed his mother was "just sleeping."
"She's been breathing through machines for more than 90 days," she said at the time. "It's torture for me. I see my daughter breathing, but she's not there. And her son -- I bring him to see her."
A GoFundMe page set up to help Smith's family financially had reached over $500,000 as of Thursday, Aug. 28. PEOPLE has reached out for a tribute.