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Woman gives birth to healthy son after defying doctors who told her to abort 'disabled' baby
The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | July 23, 2007

Posted on 07/23/2007 10:22:11 AM PDT by Stoat

Woman gives birth to healthy son after defying doctors who told her to abort 'disabled' baby

Last updated at 16:03pm on 23rd July 2007

A couple were advised by medical experts to abort their unborn child amid fears he would be severely disabled - but he was born perfectly healthy.

Heather O'Connor and Jamie Bramley went through months of turmoil after being told that scans suggested part of the baby's brain could be missing. But Jake, their first baby, arrived weighing a healthy 7lb 9oz - and with no defects.

Consultants at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester had recommended Heather should abort her child early in her pregnancy in March. But the couple asked for a second opinion and a professor at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield disagreed, saying he believed the child's brain was normal.

 

Heather O'Connor with her son Jake

St Mary's doctors continued to have serious concerns until April, when they said a further ultrasound scan had indicated the child was fine. However, in May, a St Mary's consultant again said they believed the baby's brain was abnormal.

Heather and Jamie decided against a further examination at Sheffield and decided to go ahead with the pregnancy.

Jamie, 24, and Heather, 19, of Heaton Chapel, Stockport, spoke of their anguish in the months before Jake's birth.

It started after a scan at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport suggested the child had swelling on the brain and Heather was referred to St Mary's.

Heather had a detailed scan there and doctors said the baby had brain swelling and might have a rare defect. "They said he may end up brain dead or severely disabled," said Jamie.

"They said the scan was 99 per cent reliable and recommended abortion. We were distraught. I asked for further investigations, but the doctor said he was rarely wrong.

"Heather was very distressed and we agreed to go to Sheffield for an MRI scan. The professor at Sheffield said that in his opinion, the baby may be fine. But then at St Mary's, a doctor said the pictures from Sheffield were inaccurate to him.

"We were more confident after seeing the expert at Sheffield, but because of St Mary's views, there was always an awful doubt in our minds."

Heather said: "You didn't know who to believe. But after our experience, maybe other people will not give up hope if something similar happens."

The Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs St Mary's, said: "The decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy because of a suspected abnormality is a highly individual one and we take great care to ensure patients are aware of all of the facts to allow them to make an informed decision."

The trust said it would 'not actively recommend or dissuade' patients from choosing a termination, but apologised if the family 'were given the impression that they were being advised to take this option'.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: abortion; britain; chooselife; england; goodnews; greatbritain; murder; murdermostfoul; nationalhealth; nhs; socialisedmedicine; socialism; uk; unitedkingdom
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To: Missouri gal
When my friend couldn’t think of anything else to say to the doctor who was insisting she must abort, she said, “My husband would never allow this.” The doctor replied, “Your husband doesn’t have to know.”

That's incredibly creepy ... foul, satanic evil. Was that Dr. Mephistopheles? Dr. Mengele?

41 posted on 07/23/2007 11:04:17 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Stoat
Gorgeous baby!!!
42 posted on 07/23/2007 11:11:18 AM PDT by Bitsy
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To: Stoat
Socialism is the rule in Great Britain now. Is ANYBODY over there married anymore? Other than the slightly obscene Beckham franchise? No marriage means welfare benefits, the gov’t teat is not just for losers anymore.
It’s a way of life now.

God bless the healthy baby!

43 posted on 07/23/2007 11:22:32 AM PDT by ishabibble (ALL-AMERICAN INFIDEL)
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To: SpinnerWebb
My guess is that his proven wrong record just hit 100%.

You just hit that nail on the head. Nobody checks the waste stream after an abortion to see if the doctor recommending it was correct. I don't even know if doing so is possible.

If a doctor recommends abortion and the parents agree, the doctor is right by definition. And the parents are probably so upset that they cling to the infallibility of the doctor, and never consider the possibility that he may have made a mistake.

44 posted on 07/23/2007 11:32:45 AM PDT by gridlock (Righty Tighty / Lefty Loosey)
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To: sitetest

Was it the fetal alpha protien blood test that the nurse/midwife depended on for that “diagnosis”?


45 posted on 07/23/2007 11:38:41 AM PDT by gridlock (Righty Tighty / Lefty Loosey)
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To: ontap
How can a hospital be called ST. Marys and recommend an abortion.

It's the UK; "St. Mary's Hospital" is run by the government.

46 posted on 07/23/2007 11:38:53 AM PDT by Campion ("I am so tired of you, liberal church in America" -- Mother Angelica, 1993)
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To: dmz
>Your comment is just a tad overstated. I’d venture that 10’s of thousands times a day, scientific instruments and the consensus of medical professionals work absolute wonders.

Medicine is an art, not a science.

Climatology, where consensus is King, is supposed to be a science.

47 posted on 07/23/2007 11:39:34 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Islam is a religion of peace, and Muslims reserve the right to kill anyone who says otherwise.)
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To: gridlock
Dear gridlock,

Yes.

Ironically, the test results didn’t show anything approaching an 80% chance of our son having Down Syndrome.

Rather, it showed and INCREASE of risk of 80% - from a fraction of 1% to a larger fraction of 1%.

But based on the inability to understand the most basic statistics, this woman presented us with the “choice” of killing our son.


sitetest

48 posted on 07/23/2007 11:41:53 AM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: Stoat

May God continue to bless little Jake O’Connor and his loving Mommy and Daddy.


49 posted on 07/23/2007 11:42:45 AM PDT by LucyJo
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To: Stoat

Awesome God bump!


50 posted on 07/23/2007 12:00:37 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ( “A nation without borders is not a nation.” —Ronald Reagan)
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To: Stoat

My mother had the same choice to make in 1973 after getting kicked in the stomach (she worked in a nursing home).

Note the year, abortion was ‘all the rage’ in the medical community.

Thankfully, she made the right choice.


51 posted on 07/23/2007 12:18:45 PM PDT by MatD
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To: sitetest
Reminds me of the stupid a$$hole nurse-midwife who told us our first son had an 80% chance of being born with Down Syndrome.

Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong.  Unfortunately, due to the social legitimization of "abortion" (the wanton murder of children), many medical "professionals" feel not only empowered but strongly motivated to quickly bring up the very most negative possibilities, no matter how remote.  In fairness, much of this is motivated (at least here in the USA) by an absolutely visceral terror of lawsuits and of the subsequent desire to lay out, in the most stark and unvarnished detail, the worst-case scenario as being not only a possibility but an extremely likely probability.  This removes them, or at least insulates them somewhat, from possible legal charges of "failure to adequately warn the patient of the consequences."

That being said, a nurse - midwife is not licensed to provide medical diagnoses, only nursing diagnoses.  That is the realm of an MD or Nurse Practioner.   From your description, it sounds as though this person was acting outside of her standards of practice, something that is rigidly adhered to by all healthcare workers who have even the most passing, vague interest in the concept of professionalism.  It sounds also that she may have been motivated by a militant-feminist "empowerment" agenda that moved her to steer you into the murderous clutches of Planned Parenthood for "professional prenatal care"

My great hope is that everything turned out well for you and your family despite the efforts of this unprofessional and possibly criminal idiot.

52 posted on 07/23/2007 12:18:56 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
Dear Stoat,

“Sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re wrong.”

In this case, the TEST was right, the NURSE-MIDWIFE was wrong due to her inability to count.

“That being said, a nurse - midwife is not licensed to provide medical diagnoses, only nursing diagnoses. That is the realm of an MD or Nurse Practioner.”

I’m not a medical professional, nor am I sufficiently familiar with the field to comment accurately on what you’re saying. She was a nurse-midwife, but may have also been a nurse-practitioner. I remember that she did have a Ph.D., and that not all the nurse-midwives in the practice had one.

However, it seemed standard practice that one of the mid-wives would provide the results from the AFP test. I know that the laws governing nurse-midwifery vary somewhat from state to state, and I don’t know what specifically is legal or standard in Maryland versus other states.

“It sounds also that she may have been motivated by a militant-feminist ‘empowerment’ agenda that moved her to steer you into the murderous clutches of Planned Parenthood for ‘professional prenatal care.’”

That wasn’t my impression at all. I think that she was just plain old dumb. Stupid. Not very bright.

The practice's senior-most member was quick to make the correction in diagnosis once she was alerted to Moron's mis-reading of the test results.


sitetest

53 posted on 07/23/2007 12:33:39 PM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: sitetest

Thanks very much for your clarification and I agree, stupidity seems to have oozed quite profusely in this case.
I’m delighted to understand that everything ultimately turned out well :-)


54 posted on 07/23/2007 12:42:59 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat
We were distraught. I asked for further investigations, but the doctor said he was rarely wrong.

Apparently this is one of those rare times he was wrong, eh.

55 posted on 07/23/2007 12:53:51 PM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: Stoat
... but the doctor said he was rarely wrong.

And Judge Smails NEVER hooks the ball.


56 posted on 07/23/2007 1:00:06 PM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: Stoat

What a beautiful, beautiful child!


57 posted on 07/23/2007 1:03:09 PM PDT by Marysecretary (GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL.)
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To: VRWCmember; Stoat
Oops, it was slice. Judge Smails will assure you he never slices the ball.
58 posted on 07/23/2007 1:07:43 PM PDT by VRWCmember
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To: Stoat
Dear Stoat,

Yes, everything turned out very well, thank you.

A lot of things upset me about how the whole thing was mishandled, but one of the things that upset me the most was how in the world someone had been able to get a Ph.D. in a technical field WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO COUNT TO TWENTY ON HER FINGERS AND HER TOES!!!


sitetest

59 posted on 07/23/2007 1:12:05 PM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: LadyNavyVet

And more and more of such stories are coming to air. The fact of the matter is - combine the socialized medicine in Britain that wants to cut costs any way they can... thus wanting to kill any imperfect babies, with so many selfish people who want nothing less than perfect (thus missing real love), you get a medical field that does not value human life - a very dangerous situation.

And I yet have to wonder if, at least in GB, if doctors are not paid a kickback for abortions.... And we know about the profit reaped by the abortion industry here in the US.

Abortion doctors must be some of Satan’s favorite disciples.


60 posted on 07/23/2007 1:19:05 PM PDT by TheBattman (I've got TWO QUESTIONS for you....)
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