NICU and views on abortion

fergus51 · Apr 24, 2005

No. I have always believed in abortion being available before viability and after viability in the case of certain health issues (anencephaly for instance). If anything, working in NICU has strengthened my belief in the need for legal abortions (you should see some of the mothers we see). I also think the abortion issue has muddled the waters for premature babies. Some people seem to think that viability means the child will be just fine. In fact most of our 23-24 weekers have a long hard road, if they make it.

ER1010 · Apr 24, 2005

I am a nursing student, but I understand why the OP is asking this question, and would also like to know what NICU nurses think. I am inclined to think that people working with such infants views would be influenced by the work, and I guess could go either way.

kitty29 · Apr 24, 2005

Hi all,
I am considering working in a NICU starting right after graduation, and I was wondering if working with very-early gestation babies [eg. 23-24 weekers] changes your views on abortion. I realize that there are many differing views on it, and I am probably opening up a can of worms, but I was just curious what you all had experienced. Any feedback will be appreciated!
SteveRN21

Good question! For me it has not changed my views...I think that is up to the family/person in the situation. I do not agree with partial-birth abortion tho...and I do not feel abortion should be a form of birth control (to have abortion after abortion I don't agree with).

If I were ever in the situation I honestly don't know what I'd do...but I'm sure I'd want the option.

prmenrs, RN · Apr 24, 2005

ditto, Fergus!

Gompers, BSN, RN · Apr 24, 2005

It's definitely been an eye-opener in terms of when a baby is truly A BABY. Even a 23-weeker obviously feels pain, and after working with those kinds of babies, I can't imagine them being considered non-viable enough to abort (partial birth type, I'm talking). Does that make sense? You can have a 23-week preemie in the NICU fighting for it's life, and at the same time, somewhere out there is a 26-week fetus being violently aborted...it really boggles the mind.

I have always been pro choice, and that hasn't changed after working in the NICU. It's just my feelings on WHEN and HOW and WHY that have changed.

jbanana · Apr 24, 2005

No. I have always believed in abortion being available before viability and after viability in the case of certain health issues (anencephaly for instance). If anything, working in NICU has strengthened my belief in the need for legal abortions (you should see some of the mothers we see). I also think the abortion issue has muddled the waters for premature babies. Some people seem to think that viability means the child will be just fine. In fact most of our 23-24 weekers have a long hard road, if they make it.

I agree completely.

BlueYYsRN · Apr 24, 2005

Last year we had a cluster of micropreemies complete with the cluster of desperate, scared parents that went with them. Our unit is small, 17 beds, and when you have 6 or 7 micropreemies with HFJV, multiple drips, bililights ect. , it was a very intimidating environment for parents not to mention the nurses having to deal with the parents and the babies. Our unit is on the ground floor and our windows look out onto the parking lot and a street that runs by the hospital. Directly above us is the PCN and directly above that is mother- infant. One day I had to go to the unit for a class. As I work nights I am not usually there during the afternoon. Imagine my surprise, horror, disgust, dismay to approach the hospital riding down the street beside my unit and see the anti-abortion protesters there. Apparently there is a doc at our hospital that does abortions. The protesters were there with their signs and pictures of dead babies. I wanted to stop and shake the living daylights out of these morons. They were right IN FRONT of the NICU!!! :angryfire waiting for the news crews to come film their antics.

I wouldnt deny anyone their free speech and if they want to spend their time carrying around pictures of dead babies and snappy pro-life slogans then more power to them but they should not be allowed to pick their location cart blanche. I was just about livid thinking of all these scared parents trying to visit their sick babies (some dying), or the new moms with healthy babies having to look out and see that. My NM didn't think there was anything we could do. I really wanted to confront them and at least ask if they knew that where they were standing was causing more pain to some folks who already had enough to deal with. In the end I didnt do anything but that wasn't because of my normally docile, non-confrontational self. It was because I knew that if I found out that these people had intentionally picked that location I would have lost it. I was that mad and the protesters would probably have gotten the publicity they were looking for.

Personally, I dont fit into either category. I would not have an abortion for convenience sake. I think I could only consider it under very terrible circumstances. Fortunately I never had to do that and refuse to cast judgement on any parent who has had to walk where I have never tread.

Tiki_Torch · Apr 25, 2005

Working in the NICU has not changed my opinion on the issue of abortion.

I am pro-choice because I believe that every situation and circumstance is different as well as that every person deserves to make up their own mind about their own lives. Most women who make the decision to abort have given it much thought and do not do so without realizing the gravity of their situation. (I have a medical condition which has left me unable to become pregnant so I've never, thankfully, had to deal personally with such a decision in my own life.) My heart goes out to anyone who has had to make such a decision and I support them completely whether they choose abortion or not. Just my 2 cents...

I will say, however, that working in the NICU has made me much more aware of the poor outcomes babies born at less than 25 weeks often must endure (if they survive). I also have thought that if I ever did have a baby born at that gestation, I'd very, very seriously consider comfort/pallative care over "doing everything medically possible to save the baby".

This is a heavy subject and it's bringing me down. I think I'll go over to the humor area to see if I can lighten up my mood a bit.

CHATSDALE · Apr 25, 2005

i also believe in the comfort/pallative care...long before i became a nurse a co-worker had a spinabifda . child was severely disabled at that time they called it benign neglect...

some questions have no answers .

sparkyRN · Apr 26, 2005

Being a NICU nurse has not changed my stand on abortion. I'm pro-life. I guess I'm a naturalist (not my religion-I'm much more traditional than that)-but I think everyone is here for a reason and it's not our place to interfere. What gets me is the fine line we walk in the NICU concerning micro-premies between giving a baby a chance for life and prolonging his inevitable death.

LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 27, 2005

I'm not a NICU nurse yet, but I don't think my opinion will change and it didn't change after the time I spent in the NICU as a parent. I'm personally against abortion, I wish it were never necessary, but I feel very uneasy legislating a medically valid procedure. I would rather there never be a need for abortions rather than banning the procedure. Plus it brings up issues with BCP and IUDs, and I think banning those would be bad too, as well as the morning after pill.

I was just talking to a friend who has acute intermittant prophyria, and getting pg for her would be life threatening if she had a crisis. She's never been in remission long enough to consider getting pg, and yet her dr. wouldn't do a tubal on her when she was in her early 20s because she was "too young" and had never had children. Now that she is "old enough" (over 28) she no longer has insurance and can't afford a tubal and since it's a non-emergent procedure, she can't get it done. She uses protection, but if an accident were to happen, she would have a very valid reason to have an abortion, IMO. She got accidentally pg once due to norplant failure, almost died and was already m/c the baby by that time. If she hadn't, she would have had to have had an abortion. I can't say she would deserve to die because of birth control failure or that she should never be allowed to have sex for her entire reproductive life.