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On June 12th, two sets of sextuplets were born 10 hours apart and have sparked a little controversy. The problem is that three of the premature babies have already died in one of the families. That mother only made it to 22 weeks. Both mothers used artificial means (fertility drugs or insemination) to get pregnant. Both mothers were offered selective reduction early on in order to decrease the risks to the suviving baby (ies) and the mom. Both mothers declined.
Looking at the statistics of these two cases, there is a 33% mortality between these two families. This again shows that the infant mortality rate is this country can be artificially high and gives more ammunition to those who rank our health care system poorly.
6 comments:
I have a solution for the medical crisis: Put a one billion dollar cap on profits that the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry can make. The bottom line is that the investors in these companies are pushing the profits to get their rewards. Doctors who are doing their jobs do not have time to find out which stocks are doing well and should not trust their broker to tell them. The rich stock owners get private personalized medical care and do not have an inkling as to how it feels to be placed into a single sized private room that has been divided into two compartments where you can not get to the bathroom without bumping butts with the other patient and forget the rooom for the medical equipment that is not available. Being placed in a room with a patient who is being treated for community ACquired MRSA is no fun either. It is like the roach motel, you check in but you don't check out without bringing other problems with you. However, MRSA is not considered to be dangerous unless you use equipment that has been contaminated by it, such as the shared toilet, before the diagnosing swab comes back from the lab. But the profiteers do not find this out, and if they did, they would suggest that you resuscitate only the patient who can pay cash, for services received. Since we all know who we are'nt the doctors become the fall guy. By the way $10,000.00 for a two day stay in a cramped 2 patient room without clean toilet services and jello as the only menu choice, would make a good place to put a psychiatrically diagnosed masochist. For sick people, it is additional hell to be hooked to 3 IV cannisters that are pumping you so full of fluid that the doctors threaten to put you on a diet if the scales don't come down. Talk about protocols defeating the purpose of good medicine!!!!!!
In God's kingdom it is called survival of the fittest. I know it is sad to lose those babies. But, only God knows which children can have a happy and complete life. I would like to bash the controversy as I am a supporter of a woman who is going through fertility treatment and is highly qualified to be a good mother to her child. So when the issue becomes removing some of the fertile eggs, I stand on the precipice of common sense and emotion. If God gives the knowledge to create life through the artificial fertilization process, God needs to complete the job as he sees fit. The only real loss is the lack of trying.
On reviewing the article a second time, the mortality rates on children who have been born and are living with families after the hospital and birth excitement are over is staggering. It is beginning to look more like the 16th and 17th century where many were born and few lived to adulthood. The numbers of murders of children ages 3months - 1 year(teething time) is horrendous. Life to non-souls has no particular value. Statistics prove what you want to prove quite easily.When the morality rate goes back up the mortality rate will come down again.
While it is unfortunate that these babies have died, I agree that it artificially raises the infant mortality rate. I would bet that in other industrialized countries, a 22 wk. delivery is called a miscarriage and not a live birth. Are we comparing apples with apples when we compare our infant mortality rate with the rest of the world?
Here's a different take... when someone gets pregnant, those that say it's God's will seem to feel differently in the case of infertility. Society has amplified women's hormonal urges to the level of severe genetic narcissim, and it is a huge overstep on the part of our screwy profession to have developed infertility drugs and surrogate breeders. Such is the world that has terms like "selective reduction" - if medical science was ethical enough to say "No" once in awhile, there would have been no controversy...and no harm done.
On this issue of infertility I have no objective opinion since I could just look at my husband and get pregnant. But, there are children who have already been born that need some one to love and care for them. The cost of fertility treatment to the female as well as the cost in dollars for the treatment would make the life of a young abandoned child heaven. Had I lived in an area that acknowledge this need when I was a young adult, I would have taken on adoptive children. But, when we have not developed to a certain level of maturity, we think we are the first one on the block to be able to have kids biologically and WE ARE created to have our own species survive. Life seems to be on a learning curve that would put NASCAR out of business.
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