Viability is now cosidered to start at 24 weeks; however, there are a few cases of babies surving outside the womb after 22 weeks (5.1%). The record at 23 weeks is much better, nationally about 30% though one hospital claims 60%.*
[My apologies for the font and spacing problems below. All the fonts are listed as "normal". The published version looks little like the draft version.]
Dr Peter Saunders, of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said: ‘If there is a chance a baby can survive without overwhelming and catastrophic injury, then we owe it to each child to give them a chance of life.’ **
And in another success for medical advances, Lucas Moore has just celebrated his first birthday – but he would not be alive today if he had weighed just 20g less.
He was born at 23 weeks weighing 520g (Note: there are 454 grams to the pound), just above Coventry University Hospital’s 500g resuscitation cut-off point.
With bleeds on both sides of his brain and a hole in his heart, the future did not look good for Lucas, and doctors asked his mother, Sylvia, 30, from Rugby, Warwickshire, whether she wanted to continue putting him through treatment.**I wonder what it costs to keep a baby born at 22 weeks alive (or even 24 weeks for that matter).** I am ignorant on what it takes to keep a premature baby alive, but it seems like all must be resuscitated? Among things that need to be done are intubation (putting a tube into the body), ventilation, and special medications to improve lung functioning.*** Probably $100,000 is good minimum figure? Lucas Moore was in the hospital for 101 days. Fortunately, the number of these cases seems to be small, in the hundreds and not the thousands.
In 78 per cent of cases, babies were not given such treatment, and none survived.
But among the 78 cases who were given assistance, 18 survived, the study in the New England Journal of Medicine found. Of those 11 were left with moderate or severe impairments, including blindness, deafness and cerebral palsy.***
I want to make a strong argument that this overstates the data and we are nowhere near such a debate.****
For a newborn to survive at birth, the lungs must have
the capacity to “breathe” and deliver oxygen to the body.
There is abundant evidence that developing lungs are
capable of doing so at approximately 24 weeks of
gestation (although there is inherent variability in
development even at 24 weeks.****
the capacity to “breathe” and deliver oxygen to the body.
There is abundant evidence that developing lungs are
capable of doing so at approximately 24 weeks of
gestation (although there is inherent variability in
development even at 24 weeks.****
In our institution, the average length of stay for a
surviving infant born at 24 weeks estimated
gestational age is approximately 120 days. If you
lower that estimate to 23 weeks and 5 days, the
average length of stay increases to approximately
160 days. A one or two day difference in estimating gestational age may have serious implications,
as it relates to survival chances as well as long-
term complications for the baby. Thus accurate
estimation of gestational age, as mentioned
previously, is critical.****
During a prolonged hospitalization, these
infants are at high risk for developing medical
and/or or surgical conditions including brain
bleeds, recurrent infections, serious damage
to the eyes, perforation or infection in the
intestines, as well as being subjected to multiple
medical interventions to keep them alive. For
the infants who do survive, they often need
multiple hospital revisits. All extremely
premature infants will require early
intervention, to help with their universal
weakness and many other sensory problems.
These interventions are essential to the recovery
process.****
surviving infant born at 24 weeks estimated
gestational age is approximately 120 days. If you
lower that estimate to 23 weeks and 5 days, the
average length of stay increases to approximately
160 days. A one or two day difference in estimating gestational age may have serious implications,
as it relates to survival chances as well as long-
term complications for the baby. Thus accurate
estimation of gestational age, as mentioned
previously, is critical.****
During a prolonged hospitalization, these
infants are at high risk for developing medical
and/or or surgical conditions including brain
bleeds, recurrent infections, serious damage
to the eyes, perforation or infection in the
intestines, as well as being subjected to multiple
medical interventions to keep them alive. For
the infants who do survive, they often need
multiple hospital revisits. All extremely
premature infants will require early
intervention, to help with their universal
weakness and many other sensory problems.
These interventions are essential to the recovery
process.****
* http://www.newsmax.com/MargaretCarlson/Barack-Obama-Abortion/2015/05/14/id/644547/?ns_mail_uid=80800736&ns_mail_job=1620814_05142015&s=al&dkt_nbr=g7xaddpn
** http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2808866/Now-hospitals-saving-babies-born-just-22-weeks-Medical-advances-raise-new-doubts-abortion-limit.html
*** http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11590095/Babies-born-at-22-weeks-may-have-better-survival-chances-than-was-thought.html
**** http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/11/are-babies-really-viable-at-22-weeks.html
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2808866/Now-hospitals-saving-babies-born-just-22-weeks-Medical-advances-raise-new-doubts-abortion-limit.html#ixzz3aKEA9zpe
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