I'm just as student right now, but I am exposed to families with NICU babies a lot on a support board I belong to (my child is tube-fed but otherwise pretty healthy).
I was just wondering-- I see tiny babies who are in the NICU for months struggling for life and I know there are a lot of ups and downs. How is the decision made on whether to try to save the baby or to just provide comfort until it passes? There are probably some cases where it is obvious the baby will not survive, and in that case the route of care is clear. But in other cases the baby could, with lots and lots of care (and expense!) and time, survive. I'm talking the tiny preemies, the babies who have birth accidents and brain damage, etc. Who makes this decision on the borderline cases-- the parents? the doctors? the insurance company?
A related question is what if a baby is born or comes into NICU and they are not *that* sick but they do need lifesaving treatment. Say, a baby is born with Downs and it has a heart condition that requires surgery, and is having some feeding issues and needs an NG tube to supplement feedings. There is a good chance it will be okay after heart surgery and eventually learn to eat on its own, too. What if the parents don't agree to the medical care and want to just let nature take it's course. In that case who has the ultimate say on whether the baby lives or dies? The parents? The doctors?
There is a great difference between killing someone and allowing the course of nature to be taken. I personally believe that keeping an innocent one alive on machines tubes and wires, while their bodies are telling us at every moment to let them go is against what God wants.
We have one like this right now. Parents felt guilty, and kept having us resusitate. Now he is comfort care only and they have said that they are not coming in. It hurts to think that this little one will have on body holding him, nobody (except us) to really even care when he goes to play in heaven.
Preemienurse23
214 Posts
We have one like this right now. Parents felt guilty, and kept having us resusitate. Now he is comfort care only and they have said that they are not coming in. It hurts to think that this little one will have on body holding him, nobody (except us) to really even care when he goes to play in heaven.