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Baby Jayden had the misfortune of being born two days too early.
Even though he was born at 21 weeks and 5 days into his mother's pregnancy, the preemie had a strong heartbeat and was moving his arms and legs upon delivery. But according to his mother in an interview with the Daily Mail, Jayden's doctors refused to offer him medical attention or access to intensive care because little Jayden was just two days shy of the 22-week cutoff date for treating premature babies established in the British national healthcare guidelines.
Unbelievably, the desperate pleas of Jayden's mother, Sarah Capewell, to help her still-breathing child were ignored. Capewell claims that she told the NHS doctor, "If he's born alive you have to help him." According to the story, Capewell said the doctor, following guidelines for British state hospitals for treating premature babies, responded, "No, we don't."
In England babies born prior to 22 weeks are not even legally recognized as babies and therefore are not issued birth certificates; Capewell had to fight to get both a birth and death certificate for her "fetus."
According to the Daily Mail, Capewell's midwife told her, "They won't come and help, sweetie. Make the best of the time you have with him." Indeed. Baby Jayden survived another two hours before he died in his mother's arms.
When Sarah Capewell entered James Paget Hospital in Norfolk, England she was not expecting to deliver a healthy -- or even live -- baby. She had gone into early labor, but was denied injections to try to stop the labor because she was not yet at 22 weeks of gestation. She was also denied steroid injections to help strengthen her baby's lungs for the same reason.
"When I went into labor I was told he would be born dead, disabled and his skin would most likely be peeling off," she recounts on her Web site, Justice for Jayden. Her doctor's advice was for her to treat the birth as a miscarriage, since her child was likely to be stillborn.
But that's not what happened. According Capewell, "he put out his arms and legs and pushed himself over" upon delivery and despite his doctor's grim prediction, his mother writes that "in actual fact [Jayden] was perfect." According to the Daily Mail, the midwife present at delivery described Jayden as a "little fighter."
Amellia Sonja Taylor was also a "little fighter." The 21-week-old Florida preemie who only weighed 10 ounces at birth defied odds and just celebrated her second birthday despite her doctors' pessimistic prognosis for survival.
So did Heather Pope. Though she was 23 weeks old, she was only 1.5 pounds and was given a mere 10 percent chance of survival. Heather's mother told the BBC that, "The doctors initially told us they would not do anything, but we insisted they at least try, and thankfully they came round." Heather is now a healthy and happy grade-schooler.
Sadly, Jayden Capewell was never given the chance to prove his doctors wrong. He was treated as a number, not a patient. And now the mother is asking why and waging a campaign to change England's national guidelines.
But Capewell is discovering that her noble crusade is tied up in her nation's ugly abortion politics. In England, there is genuine concern that lowering the viability age of a fetus would trigger another national debate over abortion limits as it did in 1990 when scientific evidence of fetus viability outside of the womb was the reason politicians lowered abortion limits from 28 to 24 weeks.
The good news for pro-lifers, like myself, is that if viability remains a benchmark for public acceptance of abortion, science is on our side. If only the battle to change Britain's guidelines didn't come at the expense of Jayden's life.
Even though he was born at 21 weeks and 5 days into his mother's pregnancy, the preemie had a strong heartbeat and was moving his arms and legs upon delivery. But according to his mother in an interview with the Daily Mail, Jayden's doctors refused to offer him medical attention or access to intensive care because little Jayden was just two days shy of the 22-week cutoff date for treating premature babies established in the British national healthcare guidelines.
Unbelievably, the desperate pleas of Jayden's mother, Sarah Capewell, to help her still-breathing child were ignored. Capewell claims that she told the NHS doctor, "If he's born alive you have to help him." According to the story, Capewell said the doctor, following guidelines for British state hospitals for treating premature babies, responded, "No, we don't."
In England babies born prior to 22 weeks are not even legally recognized as babies and therefore are not issued birth certificates; Capewell had to fight to get both a birth and death certificate for her "fetus."
According to the Daily Mail, Capewell's midwife told her, "They won't come and help, sweetie. Make the best of the time you have with him." Indeed. Baby Jayden survived another two hours before he died in his mother's arms.
When Sarah Capewell entered James Paget Hospital in Norfolk, England she was not expecting to deliver a healthy -- or even live -- baby. She had gone into early labor, but was denied injections to try to stop the labor because she was not yet at 22 weeks of gestation. She was also denied steroid injections to help strengthen her baby's lungs for the same reason.
"When I went into labor I was told he would be born dead, disabled and his skin would most likely be peeling off," she recounts on her Web site, Justice for Jayden. Her doctor's advice was for her to treat the birth as a miscarriage, since her child was likely to be stillborn.
But that's not what happened. According Capewell, "he put out his arms and legs and pushed himself over" upon delivery and despite his doctor's grim prediction, his mother writes that "in actual fact [Jayden] was perfect." According to the Daily Mail, the midwife present at delivery described Jayden as a "little fighter."
Amellia Sonja Taylor was also a "little fighter." The 21-week-old Florida preemie who only weighed 10 ounces at birth defied odds and just celebrated her second birthday despite her doctors' pessimistic prognosis for survival.
So did Heather Pope. Though she was 23 weeks old, she was only 1.5 pounds and was given a mere 10 percent chance of survival. Heather's mother told the BBC that, "The doctors initially told us they would not do anything, but we insisted they at least try, and thankfully they came round." Heather is now a healthy and happy grade-schooler.
Sadly, Jayden Capewell was never given the chance to prove his doctors wrong. He was treated as a number, not a patient. And now the mother is asking why and waging a campaign to change England's national guidelines.
But Capewell is discovering that her noble crusade is tied up in her nation's ugly abortion politics. In England, there is genuine concern that lowering the viability age of a fetus would trigger another national debate over abortion limits as it did in 1990 when scientific evidence of fetus viability outside of the womb was the reason politicians lowered abortion limits from 28 to 24 weeks.
The good news for pro-lifers, like myself, is that if viability remains a benchmark for public acceptance of abortion, science is on our side. If only the battle to change Britain's guidelines didn't come at the expense of Jayden's life.
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 5)
10-02-2009 @ 8:41PM
Horsecrazy4272 said..."He was treated as a number, not a patient."
Well said. That's exactly it. I can't imagine having a heart cold enough to simply leave as a newborn baby- a living, breathing person- needed my help and I had the means to do so. How do those doctors who did just that sleep at night?
Rest in peace little angel Jayden.
Reply
10-03-2009 @ 2:30PM
Bay said...So sad!!! They baby was alive and they wouldn't help him. So sad i am positive that if he had had medical attention he would have survived. Those doctors should go to jail for endangering the welfare of baby(notice I said baby not fetus) and eventually killing it. Doctors should help lives not take them away. The mother could barely get a birth and death certificate. It is so disgusting and apalling. (No offense to any good people in England.) SHAME ON ENGLAND & ITS LAWS!!!
Reply
10-03-2009 @ 10:59PM
kourtneynjatelynn said...i am nineteen yrs old my husband and i have been together for six
years our daughter who is now ten months old was born not only breach
in an emergency c-section but was also almost seven weeks early.when
she arrived her eyes opened and her first cry was when i had a river
of tears for joy bc i knoew my baby girl was alive. and get this
(mind you stil seven weeks early!) she was never on a ventalater or
any kind of machine! she was a happy healthy 4lb baby and all very
much healthy and alive.she stayed with me in my room the entire time we were at the hospital .my doctors were excellent and kept very close eye on her and i. when i went into labor early they were skeptical bc of her being so small and not being in the correct position her chances were little and she made it..i may not be a doctor or a nurse but doesnt a little faith go a long way...?i do not understand why trying to save this
ladies baby would have been so bad? even if the outcome were still
the same she and her family could have had the comfort just knowing
something was tried....the world needs a little more faith and a lot
less doubt....god bless us all. noone on here has to agree with me ..it is just my story and my opinion ...reading her story was devastating bc i could have been in her shoes and im so thankful it took a turn for the best but unfortunately she did not have the fortune of that.my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family
Reply
10-05-2009 @ 1:33AM
Elliette said...This is insane! But don't blame the doctors, they were only following the protocol, orders from a stupid system. This is exactly what will happen to us if we leave our medical system in the hands of the state! OPEN YOUR EYES CITIZENS!!!!!! and make good choices. All we can do now is pray for baby Jayden and his mother. May he rest in the arms of the Lord.
Reply
10-05-2009 @ 12:29PM
Kathrine Nisley said...My niece was just able to take her baby home after about 3 mo. or so and she was born at 20 weeks..... What right does those so called physicians have to play God???? Every child deserves the right to live...
Reply
10-05-2009 @ 12:34PM
Katharn0720 said...Kelly, I appreciate your empathy with the mother of the baby, but
please note that NOTHING that is without 'life' grows. If the child
dies within the womb, the mother will have a miscarriage.
When I was pregnant with our 4th child- our children were 6 mo., 2
and 4, I had tons of medical problems and was told that if I did not
have a D&C, I could die. I told them that I would agree only if they
could prove to me without a shadow of a doubt that my baby was dead
already. They could not.. He was seen moving around in the
ultrasound and we heard his heart beat. My pro life friends, family
members, including a worried husband, prayed and supported 'my
choice,' to protect the life that God gave me while my 'pro death of
baby friends,' accused me of being selfish and putting my pro life
views and religious faith over my husband and our other children.
Yes, God is first, but I believed that if He gave him to me, He would
take him and D&C or not, if it is my time to go home, I will go..
Well, He did take Andrew and I'm still alive. I could not believe
the hypocricy of those who call themselves 'pro choice.' I am a
woman and I made a choice. I would have thought that I would have
gotten real support from them. I didn't. We then had twins the
following year...
Reply
10-09-2009 @ 2:30PM
Amy said...What is wrong with people these days!?!?This doc ain't protecting the baby,parents killing their children,children beating up their parents-I just don't understand them.Everyone needs God in their life!
Reply
10-14-2009 @ 12:19AM
Mirand Sharma MD said...I heard about this story on the Sean Hannity show.
Although I am pro-choice to a limited extent, I believe that this mother should have been given the choice on whether to save her baby or not. In the USA, the cut-off for a savable pregnancy is 20 weeks. Even though it will be a tough uphill battle for the baby, there is a reasonable but small chance that this baby could live albeit with probable disabilities. Being pro-choice works both ways, and in my opinion, the doctors should have attempted to save this baby. In the USA, a baby born after 20 would have had an opportunity at being saved. If this is what government run healthcare gives us, then god help us all.
Reply