Preemies born at 22 weeks or less should not be kept alive artificially
Categories: Pregnancy & birth, Health & safety, Development
A new study by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics recommends that infants born at 22 weeks, or prior, should not be revived, nor should they be given intensive care. The report comes after researching premature babies over the course of two years. The Nuffield Council took into account the advances in medicine that give hospitals the ability to keep extremely premature babies alive outside the womb. They also looked at the numbers of preemies treated that did not survive even with treatment, or went on to have disabilities. This study is highly controversial, to say the least. Anyone who knows a preemie would find it hard to agree to pull the plug. Even if the chances are remote that your child could survive, I think any parent would opt to try. I guess one has to look at the bigger picture. Parenting is a sacrifice. If I child's quality of life is at stake, perhaps the biggest sacrifice is letting go. It's hard to imagine a baby who has been in the womb for just over half of a typical gestation period being able to grow up problem-free. But how does one walk away?
Like any prenatal complication, I suppose the process of grieving is the same. Even thinking about being faced with this specific situation makes me hug my family tighter. I know about complications. (Pregnant women may want to click away.) My son was pulled out of me via emergency C-section. He had an APGAR score of 3. Though the nurse came to me and said, "Congratulations, you have a healthy baby boy," I didn't buy it. I did not see him until 3 hours later when the NICU released him. We had skin-to-skin contact, he nursed, and then he had a seizure in my arms.
What ensued were nine days that went from hell to heaven. Nine days that felt like nine years. Nine days of different scenarios being thrown at us before a decision was reached. My son had had a stroke.
I didn't know that infants could have strokes -- in utero, no less. They told us he would have motor skills problems, possibly cerebral palsy. I didn't care, I just wanted him home with us. Thankfully he seems to have recovered. He's growing up healthy and meeting his developmental milestones. But there were times when it seemed like this wouldn't be the case. And even if the worst case-scenario had happened and I was asked if I would do it all over again, I would. It would be tough, but knowing my son is what makes me richer. Knowing my son can walk is beautiful, but if he couldn't, I'd love him just the same.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joanne 11-15-2006 @ 2:26PM
Who is anyone to say anyone has the right to live or die. It is gods decision not us. If god gave us the ability to keep a new born baby alive then it is his will not ours. If it was your child you would want as much help as modern medicine could provide. When the end of the day comes god is still in control.
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Jacqueline 11-15-2006 @ 2:48PM
The thing that particularly worries me about this is the influence of money. Health care is "free" in the UK... is it terribly cynical of me to think that doctors will be pressured to convince overwrought parents to "choose" to refuse (extremely costly) treatment?
As for "future quality of life," who on earth grows up without problems? And how many physically healthy people end up being perfectly miserable? I just don't buy it, I know too many great people who were extremely ill/premature as babies.
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none 11-15-2006 @ 2:56PM
it's not gods decision when there are hundreds of medications and machines doing the work. It's the doctors. I AM a neonatal ICU nurse, and I'm telling you that what is done to these tiny creatures, weighing less than 1 pound, is nothing less than torture. 22 weeks is NOT a viable baby. 22 weeks is a miscarriage and a doctor with a god complex. if god were in control, then you stand back and let nature take it's course.
money is not the issue - there are more than plenty of low income families in the units I know whose care is paid for by the state. money never comes into the treatment at the bedside, and i highly resent the implication that it does.
you clearly don't understand the differences between being premature and being a micro preemie at 22-25 weeks gestation. I challenge you to find one of the supposed great people who was a 22 weeker. They DON'T exist. Prematuratity above 24 weeks... ok... but 22 and 23 weeks... you're not just playing with fire - you're playing god.
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Jonny Frank 11-15-2006 @ 3:08PM
People using "God" to justify everything is what kept me an atheist after becoming one at age 12. Give me a break, fundies. More people have died in wars over religion than any other cause, I mean look at the Crusades. "God" is the sum of all forces, not a force in and of itself. There is no "Devil" either. Debate abortion and all the other issues from scientific and other perspectives, THINK for once in your lives!
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Nancy Toby 11-15-2006 @ 3:25PM
My daughter was born at 26 weeks, and her health care cost something over a million dollars US before she died at 6 months due to complications of prematurity. 26 weeks is really right on the edge of viability, although some earlier preemies do survive without major handicaps.
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Nancy Toby 11-15-2006 @ 3:28PM
I should probably add - those who want to keep babies younger than 22 weeks alive with all possible medical interventions - how do you propose we as a society pay the costs of several hundred thousand dollars per preemie?
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Liz Selby 11-15-2006 @ 3:39PM
We should be trying to research ways to keep these babies in their mother's womb for as long as possible.All the technology in the world is no substitute for the placenta .Our research dollars need to go towards reducing the rate of premature birth-a rate that has risen 33 % since 1981 !!
Spenser's mom -30 weeker 6/15/96-11/11/96 Died from complications of prematurity.
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Jo Ann Webster-King 11-15-2006 @ 4:08PM
I am a grandmother of a beautiful 20 months old granddaughter(Madison) who was born prematurely. She started coming at 22 weeks with no explanation as to why.The doctors did everything to stop her from coming and it worked for a while but she was born at 29 weeks by emergency c-section because my daughter was dying. I must say that it was hard on my daughter and her husband being told that if the baby was born during the 22- 25 weeks period it was nothing they would do to save her. The only thing that our family had was prayer to see the baby and the my daughter through.She was born healthy on oxygen one day and weighed 2 llbs 7 oz. Madison is super intelligent but has to wear glasses. I thank God for the doctors and staff but our faith brought all of us through. God is!!!!
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Tamyu 11-15-2006 @ 11:24PM
I DID have a very tiny preemie, and to be honest, I totally agree with this. Unless you`ve been there, you really do not know the horror of all the medical procedures, etc that a baby that tiny has to go through... And at 22 weeks, well, I`ll be honest and say I`ve never seen a 22 weeker who ended up anywhere close to "normal". It`s not simply a matter of leaving it up to nature (or god, depending on your beliefs) - these are children who require the most intense of the intense care just to *breathe*. And all that care comes with a huge cost - pain, suffering, physical, and mental damage.
It would be like *forcing* your 95 year old great grandmother to stay alive, even though she is in horrible pain and is being permanently damaged by the care itself... Because if she gets over this illness she`ll live a few more years! Most of the time it`s just selfishness. You have to know when to let go.
But I also would REALLY want them to be sure of the gestation. In the case of IUGR, a much older preemie may appear a lot younger than it is in reality. That would be my biggest worry - a 25 or 26 weeker with a fair chance, who measures as a 22 or even 21 weeker, not given the fair chance they deserve.
My son was born at 25 weeks, weighing 14 oz, after suffering an intrauterine stroke due to long term placental decay. He measured 20 to 21 weeks - I had been receiving prenatal care all along so we knew his actual gestation. The doctors commented to me that if they hadn`t known his gestation, they would never have even attempted to save him at his size.
He is fine now, over 2 years later.
But he is the only one - out of the 30 or so
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Tamyu 11-15-2006 @ 11:26PM
For some reason I was cut off, here is the rest:
But he is the only one - out of the 30 or so
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Tamyu 11-15-2006 @ 11:27PM
Cut off AGAIN. Here is my last try!
But he is the only one - out of the 30 or so below 500g babies I saw while he was hospitalized - who survived.... There are miracles, but they really are so very far and few between that it`s not fair to have them in the forefront. It seems like everyone thinks that`s the norm... With a 22 weeker, that`s just not going to happen, no matter how much the doctor wants to play god.
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Uly 11-16-2006 @ 12:09AM
"We should be trying to research ways to keep these babies in their mother's womb for as long as possible.All the technology in the world is no substitute for the placenta .Our research dollars need to go towards reducing the rate of premature birth-a rate that has risen 33 % since 1981 !!"
Now, that's the most sensible thing I've read all day. Totally agreed.
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Erin 11-16-2006 @ 1:39PM
These stories break my heart. Last year when I was pregnant my cousin found out she was pregnant shortly after me. I was due Nov 14th, she was due Dec 25th. She had a baby boy 1lb 5 oz 11 3/4 inches on Sept 1st in the very wee hours of the morning, after having spent 2 weeks with her butt above her head. Our miracle baby was born at 23 weeks and 3 days. They didn't play Brahms lullaby upon his arrival and the doctors didn't have any hope of him living. After 4 months and 22 days in the NICU he came home. The first 3 months he was in and out of Peds but after getting some things figured out I am happpy to say that we have a bright, happy 14 month old baby. We don't have that baby because of the DRs. They didn't think he would live. We have that baby because of the power of love and GOD. There is always hope. Even in the earliest births and smallest babies. God has given these Drs. special talents to save these babies. They need to use them.
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NICU Nurse 11-17-2006 @ 12:23AM
As a Level III NICU nurse I can GUARANTEE you that there is a world of difference between a 23 +3 weeker and a 22 weeker. 22 weekers cannot survive... 23 weekers can. The two weeks your sister spent with her butt in the air saved that baby... because if he had been born before 23 weeks, he would have died.
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Jenna 11-17-2006 @ 5:01AM
A good point was made here by a couple of people. I really wish people could keep their religion confined to church and their personal lifestyle decisions. Declaring God's will is absolutely the most arrogant thing a person can do. Did God email you a divine plan, conveniently attached in PDF format? Did you hook up in a chatroom and discuss where these poor babies fit into said plan? Perhaps you met down at the local coffee shop and discussed the meaning of life over lattes and scones? No...? Ohhhh! You had a special feeling and heard a voice in your head? They have medications for that.
All snark aside, I don't know much about gestational development, so I'll concur with the NICU nurse and say that a baby so premature should be allowed to die in comfort and dignity.
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Kristen 11-28-2006 @ 9:03AM
On December 25th 2002 I gave birth to my first daughter, Kayleigh Michelle. She was born at 22 weeks and 4 days the doctors said that there was NO chance because she was already dead, but they were wrong. The whole time I was in labor they said I didn't need fetal monitoring because there was no heartbeat. When my beautiful tiny baby came out...she cried. They had no NICU unit in place, No warmer, No music ready. My daughter entered the world as a wisper. They were shocked at first but moved in with procedure very quickly. She weighed an astonishing 3 lbs 2 oz. spent 2 weeks in the NICU 2 more weeks in the hospital and on January 27th, 2003 I took her home. She is now a almost 4 year old with no physical problems. Don't give up on Micro Premies. Thanks be to God my Savior who brought me my Christmas Miricle
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