Pro-life rep's "miracle" baby survives due to cutting edge medical procedures

[cali]

man, there is so much wrong with how this story is presented.

Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler celebrates ‘miracle’ baby girl born with Potter’s Sequence, likely first survivor of rare condition as doctors say they are 'cautiously optimistic'

Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler is celebrating the arrival of her “miracle” baby, born with a rare and usually fatal condition known as Potter's Sequence.

The staunchly pro-life congresswoman revealed the devastating diagnosis earlier in her pregnancy but was resolved to bring the baby to term and now is celebrating the now 2-week birthday of baby Abigail Rose - thought to be the first baby to survive the condition.

Doctors remain "cautiously optimistic" about the future but called the baby’s survival “unprecedented.”

<snip>

She underwent an experimental procedure at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., called amnioinfusion, when doctors injected saline solution into the womb to facilitate lung development.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/republican-rep-jaime-herrera-beutler-celebrates-miracle-baby-girl-born-potter-sequence-article-1.1411714#ixzz2aScLCIJl

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. How would she feel about a baby with Mosaic's disorder

that has eyeball on the bottoms of its little feet? They seem to think that never happens.

[HockeyMom]

9. They are totally clueless

They just think Downs when it comes to disabilities. If ONLY that was the case.

[hedgehog]

2. Best wishes for the child.

[cali]

4. who would wish anything differently, but in light of the point

of the op, your comment seems sort of a non sequitur.

[BainsBane]

3. Here's hoping little Abigail continues to improve

Republican, pro-life, or teabagger, or not, I wish their family all the best.

[cali]

5. yes of course. do you understand the point of the op? why I posted this?

it wasn't to rag on the baby. It was to make two points: this woman as a U.S. rep has excellent health care insurance that most women in this country don't have during their pregnancies and deliveries and to note that she was able to access cutting edge medical technology to produce this miracle, as well as noting that she's adamantly anti-choice from the time of conception and would force other women to do as she did.

[BainsBane]

6. Indeed. The disparity of medical care is a tragedy. As are support services

after children are born. Pro-life has never really meant pro-life. It means eliminating women's reproductive choices.

[NoOneMan]

7. Rich people get "miracle" babies

If God does not care about poor babies, does he care if poor people get abortions?

[Arkansas Granny]

8. I hope the baby has a healthy future. I also hope the Rep. Beutler realizes that she made a choice

when she decided to continue her pregnancy. This is the choice that the "pro-lifers" are willing to take away from other women.

[COLGATE4]

10. No, I'm absolutely positive that she now

believes this is proof positive that all those lazy women who get abortions are just thwarting God's will. After all, SHE didn't abort and look what happened!

[Arkansas Granny]

11. You're probably right, but sometimes people do have eye-opening experiences.

[Bettie]

12. It is nice that the baby has survived

Losing a wanted child is a horrible experience.

However, an average family would not be able to afford this kind of procedure, nor would insurance pay for it in most cases.

She should be grateful that she has the coverage/financial ability to ensure that her child had a chance that most other families faced with this do not have.

I hope that the child continues to do well.

[Lithos]

13. That's good for the baby

But the question is what caused Potter's sequence which is not a disease in itself, but a common set of symptoms/outcomes which may be caused by a variety of issues. Ie, Potter's sequence is what happens when insufficient amniotic fluid is present. What few people understand is that the amniotic fluid is actually generated in the back half of a pregnancy by the baby's kidney's. Or if you want to be crass, amniotic fluid is the baby's urine. Something caused the baby to not create the necessary urine.

This can be as minor as a blocked urethra (atresia) to full on kidney failure. This is not as rare as the media itself is presenting. One illness is called "Prune Belly" We had this for what would have been our first born baby. In this case the urethra failed to correctly develop. What they were going to do until he (the fetus) in turn decided to miscarry was to put in a shunt from the bladder which would have allowed the fluid. A fairly common procedure 10 years ago.

My uneducated guess is that because they did not opt for this procedure, the baby also suffers from additional kidney issues which will likely mean a complicated life at best depending on if it impacts other organs.

[1awake]

14. I love the idea of pro-life

except most pro-life supporters are far from meeting that definition. To them, pro-life begins and ends with doing away with abortion and has very little to do with assuring the life of a baby, or anyone else for that matter. I guess medical services etc doesn't count in some people's pro-life world.