November 18th, 2006
How young is too young; how small is too small?
I was surfing the archives over at BloggingBaby.com and read about a controversial study stating that babies born before 22 weeks gestation should not be given any type of intensive care, or be revived. At first glance I thought that sounded horrible, but in all honesty, shouldn’t babies have the dignity to pass in peace? When I was in Texas, my final paper for my nursing class was on the ethics of keeping a micro-preemie alive just because it was of a certain weight despite the parents’ wishes. I think it is wrong to have a policy that says “all babies over 10oz MUST be put on life support despite the parents wishes”.
Why should hospital policy trump a parent’s wishes when it is the who will be responsible for lifelong care? At 23 weeks, the chance of survival is only about 17% with a VERY high likelihood of severe physical and mental problems according to this website taken from a study done in 1997.
From 2003-2004 I worked with developmentally disabled adults ranging from mild to severe. I have to say my heart goes out to the families who have to place their child in a home because they were getting ready close to the end of their life and had no one to care for their 65 year old child with severe delays. I saw the state placing these beautiful people in abusive homes where they were neglected and not cared for (imagine 75 years in ‘foster care’). I saw nieces choosing not to have families because they had to care for their aunt who is abusive to children.
I have to say I agree with the UK’s decision to not take extraordinary measures for a 22 week micro-preemie. I also think that parents should have a say what the level of care should be for a baby born before 28 weeks without legal ramification. Nothing cruel, but I think the parent should have the right to chose a DNR or no respirator. What are your opinions??
DISCLAIMER: Just remember, these are just my opinions and any hateful coments will be deleted, but I welcome any contructive comments or arguments. I have never had a child born before 40 weeks so I don’t know what it is like in your shoes, and I really feel for anyone who has been through it before.
