An upsetting fetal death

Published

Yesterday on our unit we had a young woman come in by ambulance. She stated she was bleeding and 15 weeks pregnant. In getting the rest of the story she had been to an abortion clinic the day before and they "put something in" so she could have an abortion. She panicked with the bleeding which was minimal and came to our Catholic hospital.

Sadly when she delivered a couple hours later she delivered a live approximately 22 week baby. The baby lived for about 1/2 an hour. The woman was hysterical and kept saying they(the abortion clinic) told me it wasn't a baby yet.

It was a very difficult delivery for our staff. I think it was a blessing for this baby that she decided to come to our hospital instead of going back to the abortion clinic. The baby was held and treated with respect. She was given support and information for follow up with our RTS group and other community resources and we helped her with funeral arrangements.

I think this also speaks to the lack of education and insufficient knowledge that many women have when having an abortion.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

OMG this is horrible.

I just hope this does not turn into an abortion debate. I see that heading that way easily.

I am sorry for anyone involved, particularly the young woman and her immediate caregivers in the crisis phase. How awful.

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Poor girl. Sad. :o

And yeah......please no abortion debate !

Z

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I think this also speaks to the lack of education and insufficient knowledge that many women have when having an abortion.

It's inexcusable, especially since every abortion clinic I know of is run by medical professionals who require signed informed consent. Sounds like she had a change of mind; unfortunately, you can't protect people from themselves.

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I'm sorry that you had to deal with it. And feel sorry for the girl. At least she came in, and did not have to go through it alone at home. :o

I had a 39 week demise last week. Mom hadn't felt movement in 24 hours, then beat herself up all night asking herself why she hadn't come in the day before. :crying2:

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Yes the terrible sense of loss and guilt this girl will feel......

I hope she is referred and seeks good counseling to help her cope with the horror of her situation. She definately needs someone on her side to listen and care.

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Abortion clinics are doing a real disservice to potential clients if they tell them "it's not a baby yet." People need to understand the reality of intentional abortions, and rather than try to sweep the unpleasantries under the rug, I think this case you describe proves how terribly uneducated the general public is on this matter.

I think the abortion clinic should let people know that if it's not a baby you're not pregnant.

Emotional and psychological consideration to this issue has a long way to go.

This brings to mind an incident I heard about a few years ago, that proves even among the educated, sometimes we aren't ready to deal with reality. A nurse was assisting a doctor with an abortion. After the abortion the corpses were placed in cold storage. This aborted fetus didn't die immediately, though. And after the nurse placed it in the cold storage room she could actually hear the fetus crying. And it kept crying. About 10 minutes later the nurse started begging the doctor to take the fetus out and put it out of its misery, but he wouldn't. The crying eventually stopped but it affected this nurse. This issue will never be a pleasant one to deal with.

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Abortion clinics are doing a real disservice to potential clients if they tell them "it's not a baby yet." People need to understand the reality of intentional abortions, and rather than try to sweep the unpleasantries under the rug, I thing this case you describe proves how terribly uneducated the general public is on this matter.

I think the abortion clinic should let people know that if it's not a baby you're not pregnant.

Emotional and psychological consideration to this issue has a long way to go.

I think unless we were there it's hearsay.

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Yes the terrible sense of loss and guilt this girl will feel......

I hope she is referred and seeks good counseling to help her cope with the horror of her situation. She definately needs someone on her side to listen and care.

Ditto. I'll leave it at that.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Abortion clinics are doing a real disservice to potential clients if they tell them "it's not a baby yet." People need to understand the reality of intentional abortions, and rather than try to sweep the unpleasantries under the rug, I thing this case you describe proves how terribly uneducated the general public is on this matter.

I think the abortion clinic should let people know that if it's not a baby you're not pregnant.

Emotional and psychological consideration to this issue has a long way to go.

I don't know that abortion clinics ARE telling them this. I have known people have worked at them---- and NEVER would they say this.
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I don't know that abortion clinics ARE telling them this. I have known people have worked at them---- and NEVER would they say this.

I don't know what they tell people at abortion clinics, I was just going by the information given by the original poster. Of course, all we have is anectdotal evidence of what happened, but if this is really what they told this girl they were wrong.

I did read a book by an abortion doctor and she explained what she tells women who come into her clinic to have an abortion. I didn't happen to find what she told them very objective, because nowhere in her description of what she told the women were the words "embryo or fetus (and certainly not "baby") I just find it misleading on such a serious issue to not state the cold hard facts as they are. It may change a lot of women's minds and cause them to back out of having an abortion, but at least they would know the facts. Education is power but ignorance is not always bliss.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

That book by the doctor, just curious, What was her purpose/overall thesis in writing it?

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