Quatar Newspaper Irresponsibly Reports On Birth Of Baby
A Quatar Newspaper irresponsibly reported a story this week that I believe shouldn't have even made it to press.
Since the arrival of the 22 week gestation sextuplets 2 weeks ago, the issue of prematurity and and the limit of viability has been pushed front and center in most news outlets.
The vast population does not understand that 22 weeks gestation is the extreme limit of viability and that a baby born anytime before that has zero chance of survival. Lets be honest, 95% of babies born AT 22 weeks will not survive.
That's why I was so frustrated to come across a story that I deemed irresponsible and misleading.
The Gulf Times reported that a woman, who lives in the UK, delivered a baby at 16 weeks gestation in her home and that the baby was refused admission to the hospital because it was deemed to be a “miscarriage”.
They go on to say that the baby was breathing and that it measured 5 inches long.
A source, who witnessed the incident, said: “Paramedics had a baby struggling for life and were basically told, ‘Don’t bring it to us, we don’t want it.’”
While I understand that this whole situation was probably devastating to the mother and that she will probably need years of therapy to begin to clear the images of her baby gasping for air out of her head, this baby would NEVER have survived.
What should of happened is that the staff at the hospital should have taken the baby and then explained to the mother the early stage of development that the fetus was in and all of the parts that have yet begun to develop.
Sadly, no one knows why babies decide to make such an early arrival into the world, and it was probably very scary for this mom to see such a small being needing medical assistance when none could be given.
Many women have experienced situations like this without making it to press because unfortunately nothing can be done for these young angels.
The article goes on to say :
So...if that's the case, why would they have printed the piece at all? Why lead people to believe that a 16 week old fetus should be admitted and treated when they clearly know the stats of survival at that gestation?Babies under 22 weeks are not generally resuscitated or given intensive care under current NHS practice. Around 98% of babies born earlier do not survive. A Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said: “A baby born before 22 weeks is considered a miscarriage. The likelihood of the baby living is negligible and a maternity unit can distress the mother.”
I don't have the answers, but I do know that my heart goes out to this mom. I pray that she will become pregnant again that her next go will be successful. Hopefully carrying a healthy full term baby will help heal some of the scars that have occurred during this birth.
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