'Do not revive' earliest babies

[Rapscallion]

Resource isn't just money. There are also human resources. How about the emotional impact on the nurses who have to look after children they know aren't going to survive? We also have just about enough beds in hospitals over here - take one up with a no-chance of survival or with someone with a chance of survival?

Rapscallion

[BlaqueKatt]

Anecaphalics have no brain other than minimal brain stems. They never were babies. There are other gross deformities that render survival let alone a real life impossible even with the most advanced technology.

Nicole Trease's mother would like a word with you-Nikki is 7, born with no brain-There was also a girl on the Montel Williams show that only had a brain stem-she was 14 at the time-severely mentally handicapped-but she could read at a kindergarden level, and speak.


They used to say the same thing about certain types of illnesses that are now treatable-maybe we should just let people with HIV die it's expensive to keep them alive, my mom has had 5 heart attacks-she has an implantable defibulator-10 years ago they would have "let her die" rather than keep her alive with the horrible pain.

How can you put a monetary cost on a life?

What is the monetary worth of yours?
can't do it can you, but you can to someone else's child-maybe they just want a little time-who is anyone to tell someone else how to grieve?

[suchislife2]

I think at the end of the day, it really should be up to the parents what happens to the baby. The bond between baby and parent is so strong that I'm sure if one doctor was to say no, and say there are no resources or so on to save the baby the parents would do everything in their power to save the baby no matter what.

I mean, this is a tad off topic, but sort of the same, see these parents http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs_LoWaAGb0 they have a baby that is extremely deformed, yet decide to keep the baby, and do everything in their power to give her a better life. They won't and have not given up.

Now some of you may say that the girl (or the babies below) will suffer. I don't doubt this, and this raises more ethical issues. But with the increase in technology some say that a lot of these babies are being born, and grow up and lead normal lives.

Wrong or right? Well, look at my mothers friend, he has one eye missing, deformed jaw, fingers missing on both hands that are deformed, one leg missing, toes missing on the other foot. He's now 40 something. He is severely depressed and has attempted suicide on more than one occasion. He's lonely as anything because, well, a lot of woman don't really find him attractive, even if he has a great personality. His birth mother doesn't want to know him at all, and his foster family don't contact him at all. He feels rejected, shunned. Is this fair? Ultimately life is what you make it, but yeah, doesn't make it right.


http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=_ssFda00gko

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=vlZnqLKDRlo

[Lace Neil Singer]

Nicole Trease's mother would like a word with you-Nikki is 7, born with no brain-There was also a girl on the Montel Williams show that only had a brain stem-she was 14 at the time-severely mentally handicapped-but she could read at a kindergarden level, and speak.

I find that very hard to believe.

http://www.anencephalie-info.org/e/faq.php

Life expectancy:
About 25% of anencephalic children who live to the end of the pregnancy die during delivery; 50% have a life expectancy of between a few minutes and 1 day, 25% live up to 10 days (Jaquier 2006)
Get more information: Report about the birth and life of babies with anencephaly

Can an anencephalic child sense or do anything?
Doctors will tell you that an anencephalic child can neither see nor hear, nor feel pain, that he or she is a vegetable. However, that does not match up with the experience of many families who have had an anencephalic child. The brain is affected to varying degrees, according to the child; the brain tissue can reach different stages of development. Some children are able to swallow, eat, cry, hear, feel vibrations (loud sounds), react to touch and even to light.

[Boozy]

Nikki Trease is hydranencephalic, not anencephalic.

Do not ask me to explain the difference, but obviously there is one.

[Pedersen]

Anencephaly Anencephaly is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the cephalic (head) end of the neural tube fails to close, usually between the 23rd and 26th day of pregnancy[citation needed], resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Children with this disorder are born without a forebrain, the largest part of the brain consisting mainly of the cerebral hemispheres (which include the isocortex, which is responsible for higher level cognition, i.e., thinking). The remaining brain tissue is often exposed - not covered by bone or skin.

Hydranencephaly: Hydranencephaly is a type of cephalic disorder. This is a rare condition in which the cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced by sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Usually the cerebellum and brainstem are formed normally, although in some cases the cerebellum may also be absent. An infant with hydranencephaly may appear normal at birth or may have some distortion of the skull and upper facial features due to fluid pressure inside the skull. The infant's head size and spontaneous reflexes such as sucking, swallowing, crying, and moving the arms and legs may all seem normal, depending on the severity of the condition.

Major differences between the two. Hydranencephalic can actually live (obviously). Anencephalic is, at longest lived, dead in very short order, and with current technology cannot live past that time frame.