Posted on 12/10/2005 1:15:39 AM PST by LadyDoc
Tributes have been paid to a Teesside mother who sacrificed her own life to save that of her unborn baby.
Bernadette Mimura, 37, from Ingleby Barwick, was diagnosed with breast cancer one month into her pregnancy.
Doctors urged her to try life-saving drugs, but this would have meant terminating the pregnancy.
Ms Mimura refused the drugs and gave birth to her fit and healthy baby, but lived just long enough to see her son, Nathan, baptised.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
One month in. Mmm. That one, I'd have to think long and hard about.
Prayer from TX
I trust that the Lord will provide: a child is born, and a child has gone home.
Parenthood has no logical defined parameters.
What would I "not do" for my child?
It does, actually — having a baby being the essential one. In the very early stages of development, babies are spontaneously aborted more often than not. That makes life or death decisions about the mother this early in the development of a human quite thorny. To pretend otherwise does everyone a disservice.
Some details from the article for the discussion:
Ms. Mimura was from the Philippines.
She was 37 and had had three other children.
While she was pregnant, she didnot refuse all treatment for her breast cancer. Instead she took a milder form of chemotherapy intended to keep the disease in check without threatening the developing baby.
The child was born by induced labor two months early after her medical condition worsened.
This baby was not spontaneously aborted...
....This baby had a strong will to live and a mom who was willing to sacrifice her life for his.
Yes, many prayers for that family. Assuming she was a Christian, she followed her Master's will; "no greater love than to lay one's life down for a friend." The ultimate sacrifice any person can do, especially a mother for her child, and as Christ did for us. I would hope, as a Christian, I could make the same decision if confronted with such a choice. Some would argue it would have been better to save her, abort the child, so she could remain alive and mother the remaining children. But that elected abortion would be forever on her mind, I suspect.
We don't know the circumstances, but assuming the level of love in that household and family is enormous, I sense they were prepared to handle it and remember her with an even greater love for her action. The surviving child certainly will.
It isn't. There was no way of knowing ahead of time the baby could be carried to full term, and that early in the process the chances of spontaneous abortion are still high. A month. That's early. "Strong will to live" doesn't enter into it at four weeks. If both baby and mother had died, what would that have served?
It's wrong to pretend this isn't a difficult one.
She was a Jewish woman and you would think she would probably have the liberal view when it came to the unborn, but she felt risking her life for her children's lives, born or unborn, was part of her job description.
...but she gave her life to give him every opportunity to get there.
She chose life.
I think you just don't get it.
Go condescend to someone else. By pretending she made the only choice, rather than a very difficult and risky one that she might have made another way without shame, you cheapen the value of what she did.
One month. That is very, very early.
There would be no "have to think about it" for me. To voluntarily abort a baby is to commit murder. I couldn't do it.
Rest in Peace
Bernadette Mimura
My prayers go up for all who now mourn the passing of Bernadette. I pray for Nathan and his family, peace and comfort for their loss.
TXBSAFH, thank you for the ping.
Blessings,
trussell
If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.
That is beautiful, too, of course. I've never forgotten where the Christian faith is based, in Judaism. Many devout, practicing Jews are pro-life, but are never heard from given the MSM bias, and the bias of their own secular brothers and sisters. A shame.
My prayers are with the family of this brave woman today, that the Lord will grant them comfort and strength in this time of sorrow.
I join in prayer for all the family!
I respect the woman's decision.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.