12-ounce baby's survival leaves doctors amazed

The Tennessean ^ | June 19, 2002 | JACK HURST

[tdadams]

Probably the smallest surviving baby ever born in Nashville - who entered the world four months ago at Centennial Hospital weighing the same as a regular-sized soft drink - went home yesterday.

From an initial 12 ounces on Feb. 10, Olivia Grace Reimers had gained another 4 pounds, 14 ounces, by the time she left Centennial with her parents, Elizabeth and Dan Reimers of Winchester, Tenn. Hospital spokespeople said she was released with good prospects for a normal life.

[tdadams]

What a miracle. This puts a new perspective on the abortion debate and what is considered a 'viable' fetus.

[babyface00]

I'm curious how far along in a pregnancy a 12-ounce baby typically is. Does anyone know?

[babyface00]

Duh nevermind. I can read....24 weeks.

[babyface00]

Duh nevermind. I can read....24 weeks.

[homeschool mama]

**This puts a new perspective on the abortion debate and what is considered a 'viable' fetus. **

bump

I had similar medical difficulties...was able to deliver at 35 weeks. What a blessing for little Olivia, to be doing well.

[wardaddy]

pro-life bump!

[r9etb]

''The more experience that I get, I really feel that there's got to be something greater than the medical care that we give that accounts for these kind of survivals,''

Sounds like a man well on his way to a conversion. It always amazes me to see how God can turn the utter weakness of such a tiny little thing into something so very powerful.

[Okies love Dubya 2]

What a beautiful story! I was born on Feb. 10 (1973) in Nashville too (at Baptist Hospital to Catholic parents, haha).

I always worry that things like this could happen to me (I am a little over 28 weeks pregnant with our son), but I read stories like this and know that with the grace of God and some dedicated medical personnel, even the most fragile of lives can pull through.

God bless baby Olivia, her parents, and the good people who worked to make this possible!

[Atsilvquodi]

BUMP!

once conceived - a baby is a baby - no matter how small.
The smaller they are the more protection they need.

[SpookBrat]

OMGosh! Wow! Wonderful news. I pray this baby will be healthy. God is faithful.

[Frank Grimes]

God Bless that Family and that Baby!!!

God is Pro-Life!!!

[nothingnew]

It always amazes me to see how God can turn the utter weakness of such a tiny little thing into something so very powerful.

Me too. G_D bless(ed) the family.

FMCDH

[Amelia]

''The more experience that I get, I really feel that there's got to be something greater than the medical care that we give that accounts for these kind of survivals,'' he said. ''You could do this to 100 similar babies and the overwhelming majority wouldn't survive.''

But more and more smaller & smaller babies are able to survive....it's amazing!

[Anamensis]

It is amazing. It's also incredibly expensive, I heard a price tag around $1,000,000 for this kind of intervention. Oh well, that's what tax-payers are for, right?

[He Rides A White Horse]

I heard a price tag around $1,000,000 for this kind of intervention.

Gosh, you are so right. You know how many babies Planned Parenthood could have killed with that kind of money?

What a waste.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Then again, that's what government is for. To pick the pockets of taxpayers to fund Planned Parenthood's scheme of mass murder.

Thanks for putting it all back in perspective for me.

Don't know what we would do without you.........

[Amelia]

Oh well, that's what tax-payers are for, right?

I think it said the insurance covered the cost.

That said, I'm a bit conflicted. As medical science advances, we are all better off.

On the other hand, I think government subsidies of medical care end up increasing the costs, and there doesn't seem to be any Constitutional justification for it in any case.

[LoneGOPinCT]

What a miracle. This puts a new perspective on the abortion debate and what is considered a 'viable' fetus.

Well said. It is amazing how these little ones can pull through. I am an agnostic but sometimes I have to wonder!

[NYer]

Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville - Two doctors there have been attempting a daring new surgery, operating on spina bifida fetuses three to four months before the normal delivery date and sewing up the lesions while the fetuses were still in their mothers' wombs.

Trish and Michael Switzer hoped to correct the lesion as soon as possible, in order to prevent more problems from developing, she had wanted to schedule the surgery for the 23rd week of her pregnancy. As a nurse reminded the Switzers less than an hour before Trish was wheeled into the operating room, if she delivered during surgery, it would not be possible for the doctors to keep such a young baby alive.

The one-hour surgery went off without a hitch. Bruner made an incision, pulled out the football-size uterus, used an ultrasound to study the baby's position and carefully made a small cut. Then he stepped aside for Tulipan to operate on Sarah Marie's spine. Although the operation had nearly become routine for the two doctors -- Brunen predicts that within a decade the surgery will regularly be performed at hospitals around the country -- there still came a moment of awestruck silence when they peered into Trish's womb to stare at life before birth.

Brunen reached down and lifted Sarah Marie's hand out of the uterus. "She's going to be beautiful," he said.

This photo became the center of a controversy when the Fox News cable channel canned talk-show host Matt Drudge. The cyber-pundit, who broke the Monica Lewinsky story, was tossed in November after refusing to tape his weekly show. Network execs had refused to allow him to show the photo, claiming Drudge planned to use it to further his anti-abortion agenda; he cried censorship and walked.

PRO LIFE BUMP!!!

[Snidely Whiplash]

This is great. I'm always glad to see stories like this turn out well - it's tough to imagine what these parents have gone through these past few months.

That said - and this is a fact check, nothing more - neither this story, or the story about the prenatal surgery, have any real bearing on the fight to end abortion. According the the CDC, the vast majority of abortions (like 88%) take place before 13 weeks gestation, and 55% are done at or before eight weeks. While later-term abortions are awful, it's a much smaller percentage of the total (around 1.5%). That's the stuff you have to deal with.

More data (from 1998 - sorry about the age of the stats):
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/previe w/mmwrhtml/ss5103a1.htm

Regards,
Snidely