21 weeks, while it is theoretically possible, is stretching the truth.
A while ago there was an article about how the hospitals do a lousy job of pricing their services. They really don’t know how much it costs to set a broken leg, etc.
Go figure.
My son was born in my 25th week . The hospital wanted to put him on permanent disability, told me that he was a prime candidate for cerebral palsy as he was born with a level 2 brain hemorrhage. I gave that poor little so much love and an understanding that things weren’t gonna happen for him the way they did for other kids. He had to repeat kindergarten because he lacked fine motor skills. Fast forward 20 years….he graduated Xavier University with honors (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laud) he is currently in his third year of med school. Medicine never factors in a parents love….
I worked at a hospital. We did not have a NICU, but i saw a few transported to the one down the street from our L&D department.
If anyone thinks parents are actually counseled to let their children die because of the cost, you need to think again. In our Labor and delivery group and the one at the NICU down the street (it is literally down the street) the people working there fight harder than you can begin to imagine to keep every baby alive.
There ARE cases where babies are so deformed that they would not survive, even with an army of dedicated staff.
In none of these cases does “cost” or ability to pay even come into play.
The medical world is made out to be full of grim reapers who cannot wait to kill and poison you for a dollar. In the five years I worked there, among the front line staff the cost to treat a patient was never a factor. Keeping costs down overall was certainly something everyone was aware of, but those are two very different things.
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