Monday, April 06, 2009

Baby Faith Update

Baby Faith is now 6 weeks and 4 days old! Not bad for a baby that wasn't even expected to survive until birth! Her doting mommy has posted another video. The swollen eyelid isn't from an infection, thank God, so there's no danger from that, which was what I was worried about. Doctors and nurses are treating Faith like any other baby who has some health issues, not as a baby who has no hope, and I think that this goes a long way for her.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've linked to this post for people to send their prayers for any issues that still may exist. Pray for Baby Faith

Allison said...

Check out this blog...here is another family who was told that they should abort because her daughter had congenital diaphragmatic hernia and that her heart was on the wrong side of her body, and that her stomach was up in her chest next to her heart.

She chose NOT to abort.

Her daughter is home with her and is now 7 1/2 months old.

Why doctors think they know it all and would rather a women suffer from an abortion instead of being able to grieve for the baby dying on its own or letting a miracle happen (and prove doctors wrong and that they aren't always right!)

Allison said...

duh, forgot to leave the link...

http://letterstocatherine.blogspot.com

Christina Dunigan said...

Allie, I imagine that there are a lot of reasons different doctors push abortion.

One thread seems to be that doctors are people who went to a lot of trouble to learn how to fix things. When they're confronted with a situation where they can't fix it, they feel as if they have to do SOMETHING, and the only thing they can think of is abortion.

Parents are working on educating these doctors.

That's a lot of why I'm hoping Baby Faith's doctors do some medical journal articles. Let other doctors know that there's more that you can do besides watch your patient suffer.

Oh-- and the doctors only see the suffering of the parents when the baby is still alive. After the abortion, it's over for the doctor. He's not seeing the suffering any more, so he perceives it as being gone. Sort of why dogs bark at mailmen. "See? It worked! I made the threat go away!"

Christina Dunigan said...

Here's Allie's link.

Kathy said...

I've also heard of parents filing suit against a doctor for "wrongful life" when their child is born with a problem like this (or Down's Syndrome, or some other condition that can usually but not always be known before birth), in order to get some money from somewhere to take care of the child's medical expenses. I've even read of one such case in which the parents declined prenatal testing, the baby was born deformed in some way, and they sued the doctor, saying that the doctor should have *forced* them to get the testing done, because if they had known their child would be born with this condition, they would have aborted him or her and not had to deal with the baby's problem. I think it's sad, and is also rare, but some doctors can get gun-shy after hearing something like this.

I know that doctors and midwives have to *offer* tests and screenings, but some are more aggressive than others. One email friend of mine had to vigorously decline any testing (she was 42, and therefore at increased risk of having a baby with genetic problems), saying that even if the test showed a problem, she wouldn't abort. But that wasn't even enough, because the doctor still pressed her. Finally, she explained that she already had two special-needs daughters, and would not mind welcoming a third.

Women are fully supported in their "choice" to have an abortion, but often have to fight tooth and nail for their choice not to have one!