{"id":316931,"date":"2024-08-13T06:37:30","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T11:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=316931"},"modified":"2024-08-15T18:37:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T23:37:25","slug":"shocking-reason-hospitals-refuse-treat-extremely-premature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/shocking-reason-hospitals-refuse-treat-extremely-premature\/","title":{"rendered":"The shocking reason why some hospitals refuse to treat extremely premature babies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thanks to medical advancements over the last several decades, preborn babies as young as 21 weeks can now survive outside the womb \u2014 and Live Action News has shared<\/a> many<\/a> of their amazing stories. Despite this, many neonatal units in the United States aren’t equipped to help families with such micro-preemies, and, what’s worse, many often falsely tell parents that there’s no hope if they do have an infant born so early.<\/p>\n

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal<\/a> illustrates two of the potential reasons parents aren’t given the information they need: high costs, and the ‘worry’ that a child might live with a disability.<\/p>\n

One mother interviewed for the piece described how one hospital in suburban Minneapolis told her that no one could help her if her daughter was born at 22 weeks. It was only through a Facebook post that she discovered a hospital just seven miles away would care for her daughter. She arranged for a transfer, and thanks to excellent medical intervention, her daughter is now a thriving four-year-old. The article goes on to share stories of several families in similar situations \u2014 though sadly, some infants passed away due to lack of care.<\/p>\n

Though not every hospital is equipped to deal with micro-preemies, according to the WSJ, “others have chosen not to offer the care, saying it is likely to fail, is expensive \u2014 typically more than $100,000 a child, and sometimes much more \u2014 and subjects tiny, fragile infants to needless pain and the risk of long-term disabilities.”<\/p>\n

Some of the disabilities mentioned include “vision problems or blindness,” “extra oxygen or feeding tubes,” and “developmental delays.”<\/p>\n