Right to life

My nephew was born at 20 weeks give or take. He was a pound and a half at birth and slipped under a pound. My father described him as a bottle of Ketchup that fit in his hand. My nephew is now 27 years old, tall, growinga little heavy now, and still acting like an 18 year old. But he is here on this planet for a reason. No one else has the right to play God and decide who lives and who doesn't.

i think that all newborn children should have the right to a life no matter how premature they are. because with the new technology that are coming out i dont see why they couldnt even try if there less the 25 weeks.

My daughter was 7 weeks premature I can't even imagine someone saying they weren't going to try. She weighed in at 2 pounds 14 ounces. She stayed in the hospital for 7 weeks. She is now 16 years old and has been extremely healthy all 16 of those years. She rarely ever gets sick and has never had any respitory problems. To look at her now you can't tell she was a preemie. Each baby is different and has thier own complications to put a cut off time without that individual consideration in there is horrible.

If anyone's interested in checking it out, I just finished a really interesting book on the subject called Baby at Risk by Ruth Levy Guyer.

yes i agree.

Here in Australia the rule of thumb is 24 weeks but some at 22 weeks till have tried and even saved. Here they atleast do waht the can for a few days to see what progress theses babies make. I am speaking from many hours of sitting in theses special nurseries after haveing five very small preemies. my smallest was just 675 g now 16 and the next one after that just 910g now 6. I think these hospitals should go on a baby by baby basis. There are different factors which seem to contribute to why some have severe disabilities and some just fly through. Both have no long term disabilities and have be no drain on medical resources since discharge. When are they going to learn

I totally agree with u

At the hospital I delivered at there was a large sign saying stabalizing treatment will be provided to everyone, even a pregnant woman's unborn child. My little girl was a preemie, but she was born at 33 weeks. She was born by emergency c-section after an u/s revelealed complications. She lost 70% of her small intestine. Today she is 4 1/2 months old, will be spending her first Christmas in the hospital, has had 3 surgeries before she even hit 3 months old, and she is the most bright eyed little girl & very happy and has a great disposition.

First of all, WOW, I'm surprised at all these preemies born at 20 weeks that survived, considering the youngest preemie on record to survive was born at 21 weeks and 3 days gestation. Only 1% of babies born at 22 weeks survive long enough to ever leave the hospital. Personally, I think there's a real grey area when you're trying to decide when to offer aggressive treatment for preemies and when to offer palliative care (making the baby comfortable during what time it has). My twins were born at 28 weeks. At that point there was no question about what we would do. However, when I was originally admitted to the hospital at 22 weeks, I doubt we would have opted for anything other than comfort care. Even at 28 weeks my babies had a high chance of having severe disabilities. Thank God, they are perfect as far as we know. Unfortunately, with preemies, you never really know, for many years, whether the child may have a disability that shows up later. I think in a lot of cases it should be left up to the parents (assuming intelligent, well informed parents) as to what sort of care to give. I think parents of 22-24 weekers should be able to be a large part of that decision. The doctors claim victory for gettging a live baby out the door and home. However, it's the parents who have to raise a child with lifelong disabilities that limit their fucntion and may be painful. The doctors and nurses aren't the ones that have to care for that child for the next few decades so, I think, they shouldn't be the only one making the decisions. You hear about 22 and 23 weekers that grew up with no problems. But, why do you think you hear such a big deal made about it? Because it's the exception, not the rule. It's so unusual for a 22 weeker to grow up without probelms that, when it does happen, it's newsworthy. Maybe "giving every child a chance" means that, sometimes, the best choice is making them comfortable and letting them feel loved in their parents arms for what short time they have. Is it really better to go all out fighting and the baby never gets to be held or cuddle and all it knew was needle sticks and an isolette? Is it better to "save" a child who can't eat on their own, can't walk or stand or talk, can't even breath with a tube in their throat? Sometimes the kindest choice isn't doing everything the doctors can to save a chld.

every one's wish.

In India the limiting factors are 1. Availability of facilities to treat extremely premature babies 2. Lack of finances for parents to take care of them. The above facts mean that most extremely preterm babies dont survice. Of course where facilities are available some do quite well. But I have personally seen lots of these babies literally struggling the rest of their lives - many just succumbing to illnesses after a few months. I believe that God made them for a special purpose, although many times I cant figure out why. Its one of the most difficult decisions to make for any parent and doctor especially when finances and availability of facilities/expertise are scarce.

Premature babies should be treated, but the age depends... It cant be the same for every child. It varies with everyone.. If the dis-abilities are really severe, then ofcourse the treatment should also be as early as possible, but I would say thats its always better to leave doctors decide about these things as they would know better about such things and hence their diagnosis for each and every child would be different too. But it must be taken into consideration that severe disabilities which you have mentioned should be avoided.

i think prematured baby should be treaed in 15 yrs what do u think

Premature children are prone to many disabilities, that can affect them growing up and as being productive adults. Its a hard decision I am sure for the parents to decide that if their premature child have a chance of living and being productive. I personally dont know what decsion I would make if I was in that predictament. I have known of premature babies growing up and being as noraml as if it was born full term. Also just because a baby is full term doesn't mean they will be healthy, and grow up without having problems in their lives. Having said that I think I would want to give my premature baby a chance. I also think the final decision should be up to the premature child parent.

My cousin was born really early, probably around 20/22 weeks. He is 18 now and still has the mind of a child... but he is happy and loving, and very very loved. Who are we to say when someone's life is worth living?

I think every newborn has a right to be treated. My first grandchild was born at 20 weeks gestation and after a long battle to survive, she is now a perfectly healthy 14 year old. She is very tall and and would make a fabulous model. She always achieves top marks in her exams at school and one would never believe that she was only 1lb 10ozs at birth. My second grandchild was also born at 20 weeks gestation and she weighed in at only 1lb 6ozs. She has mild spastic dyplegia, but she is bright as a button and attends mainstream school. She is now nine years old and is learning to play piano, violin, tin whistle and cello. Yes, some babies, unfortunately will not survice, but we have to give them the fighting chance.