Woman gives birth, hugs twins, and dies

Very sad situation. I wish the best for the twins and father.

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Sad, yes. but stupid beyond stupid. What an asshat, I hope he feels like a huge big F'ing PRICK when explaning to those twins why their mother isn't here with them. IDIOT.

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it must be hard on the family when a loved one dies trust me i know how it feels. my feeling goes out for the family and kids.

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I read this in horror today as my best friend is in the hospital right now undergoing a c-section to deliver twins! I'm at home with her one year old baby, now chewing my fingernails OFF. thanks. Now I'm about to call her family and see if she and I share blood type!

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You know, as much as I agree that it is a tragic and unnecessary death, the disrespect for a religion shown here is disappointing. Yes, they made a choice that we would not have, but it was based on their belief system, which as far as I can tell, is not something any of us have a right to judge.

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Well, if it was the mother's decidion not to receive a blood transfusion, I suppose there is nothing to be said about it. I know that were I in her place, and a blood transfusion allegedly went against my religion, I think I would make an exception in order to be in the lives of my newborn children.

I think sometimes people translate religious texts a little too rigidly.

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I don't care if I disrespected some ones religion. She is DEAD, a healthy soon to be Mom is D.E.A.D because of her religion. DEAD. And here is some more disrespect for you....I hope her husband & family bear the weight of that stupid decision for the rest of their lives. I hope that every single time they look in to those babies eyes they realize how STUPID their were.

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CRAP, where's the edit button? I meant to say they realize how STUPID THEY were.
not... they realize how STUPID their were.

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About three years ago, a good friend of mine died just after giving birth due to blood loss. It was shocking and unexpected. They gave her about 12 pints of blood and had to stop (heroic measures and all). I had such a difficult time with the concept of her death... that this new dad was at home with his first baby, and his wife wasn't there to share in the joy. But they both had a very strong faith and their love of God and the closeness of their families helped him through. I can't help but think that every time their child has a birthday, it's also a reminder of the day the mother died. Religion aside, there's nothing to say that a blood transfusion would have guaranteed the survival of the mom in this article... but it would have been nice if she'd had the chance.

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After reading the passages that they apparently get this doctrine from, I really don't get it:

Genesis 9:3
Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you; As the green herb have I given you all.

Leviticus 17:10
And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, that eateth any manner of blood, I will set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

Acts 15:29
that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well.

The most relevant seems to be "don't eat blood." But couldn't that just as well mean literally, don't drink someone's blood? Or maybe, don't eat raw meat?

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I agree with IvyMae about the disrespect for religion. If someone told you that drinking children's blood would make you healthier, would you do it? (This has been a belief in the past, maybe still among some.) Why not? Because you find it repugnant based on religious / moral beliefs. People who don't believe in blood transfusions feel the same way. Another example is when Gandhi's son was very ill and the doctors told him he should allow them to feed him meat broth to bring him back to health. He refused, based on his vegetarian beliefs. So far I haven't heard anyone say Gandhi was a stupid asshat.

My mom was raised as a JW and still believes in not "eating blood." She has had six kids and several major surgeries (ovary removal, hysterectomy, colostomy, etc.) and asked not to be given blood. She survived the surgeries though no blood was given (though they did give her a little during the colon removal because she allowed it if absolutely necessary - note she had left the JW religion about 40 years before that).

Also, lots of people die of blood loss even though they allow blood transfusions.

How come the only cases that hit the news are those where someone dies due to refusing a blood transfusion? Why don't they report the many, many more cases where (a) people came out just fine without a blood transfusion, or (b) people died despite the transfusions.

Another point. Doctors do blood transfusions to an extent far more than necessary. There is no proof that this leads to better, rather than worse, results. Personally I would always ask doctors not to give me blood unless it was absolutely necessary, and I have never been a JW.

Use your head, Roger. Your distaste of religion really colors your posts. It's not only disrespectful, it's ignorant.

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First off, who is Roger? I AM a mom, not a dad.

And second...this is a quote from the article... Had she or her family allowed the doctors to give her blood, she would be alive today.

No I wouldn't drink a child's blood if that child had to be killed for me to get it. People don't DIE who give blood. there is a difference.

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I'm sorry for the two children who lost their mother due to wacko religious beliefs, quite frankly.

I had triplets and fortunately *only* needed two units of blood after their delivery. However, until I got those I could barely walk.

Thank God for modern medicine.

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I'm with you, WonderMom. And of course we have a right to judge other people's beliefs. And we do it all the time, too. Just because you call some collection of beliefs a religion it's automatically off-limits to rational evaluation? So these twins will grow up without a mother: how lucky for them that their mother was God-fearing. Then again, they'll presumably be brainwashed into their parents' religion and so will grow up accepting that the appropriate decision was made.

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While this shouldn't really be a forum for religious debate, my understanding is that Witnesses interpret the passages as saying you should not take blood into your body in any way ("abstain . . . from blood"). Violating this by accepting a transfusion would have serious consequences for a person, such as bascially being excommunicated (not their term) not to mention your own personal conscience issues. There are additional instances in the Bible where people (soldiers I believe) eat blood in order to survive, but they are still condemned. Even though they would have died, it was still wrong to do it. I do not share this belief with Witnesses, but I do believe that we all need to respect their belief. Just as anyone would expect them to respect your belief--whether that be that Mary was an eternal virgin or that God does not exist.

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WonderMom, Roger wrote the post.

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Nope. I do NOT need to respect this belief. A woman is dead needlessly. Two children are motherless because of fringe beliefs. This tragedy could have easily been prevented. No, I do NOT respect that decision, nor the superstitious beliefs which prompt such decisions. It's one of the worst manifestations of belief in the supernatural.

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THAT IS SOOO SAD. MY MOTHER IS A JEHOVAHS WITNESS AND SHE HAS ALWAYS WANTED ME TO BE ONE TOO. BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I COMPLETELY DISAGREE WITH IS THE NO EXCHANGE OF ANY BLOOD OR BLOOD BY-PRODUCTS, AMOUNG MANY OTHER THINGS. IT IS LIFE SAVING. ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK IS TRUE IS THAT WE WERE GIVEN LIFE AND FREEWILL, AND I BELIEVE GOD OR JEHOVAH WOULD WANT US TO FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES BECAUSE THAT MEANS WE APPRECIATE IT. AND ITS NOT LIKE WE ARE KILLING EACH OTHER TO OBTAIN THE BLOOD OR ANYTHING. IT IS FREELY DONATED TO HELP THOSE WHO MAY NEED IT TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES.
OK BETTER STOP HERE BEFORE I REALLY GET HEATED ABOUT THIS

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God gave us brains - so why is it so bad to use them? What a senseless and tragic loss.

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I can't believe that she would have wanted to die after holding her babies, and the fact that it was her family that made that decision (article states that the staff *begged* her husband and family and they refused) makes me wonder what she would have done.

Maybe I am wrong, but I seriously doubt she would have held her babies that she was so excited for, handed them to her husband, and said "I am ready to die."

No matter what she signed beforehand, I am just so sad for her. And if that is what she truly wanted, then that is her religious freedom.

The problem I have is that this seems to be inacted when the person is incapable of making their own decision (new borns that are refused transfusions, this mom who had the decision made for her.) I honestly believe that its wrong when the person is not informed of the new situation, how are they to make a new choice? Maybe she would have wanted to live when faced with cold reality of death and leaving those precious babies.

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