Today is my eldest son’s birthday. It is also the anniversary of his death. It is a complicated story. I had triplets and then my membranes broke at 22 1/2 weeks. My first son’s death was foretold before his first breath. A real life fairy tale curse. I knew I had no magic to break …
Continue reading “Mother of 3, parent of 2. Reflections on the saddest sorority.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a warning regarding the potential dangers of anesthesia in pregnancy and for young children. Specifically that “repeated or lengthy use of general anesthetic and sedation drugs during surgeries or procedures in children younger than 3 years or in pregnant women during their third trimester may affect the …
The story is a sad one, a set of twins where one is not expected to survive due to complex anomalies. As the mother of a set of triplets where one did not survive I understand this kind of pain. A couple in such a situation spoke with their local news about their ultrasound which …
Purvi Patel faces 70 years in jail for delivering a premature baby at home and believing her fetus was stillborn. She was found guilty of feticide and neglect. I want to put these frightening abuses of her legal rights aside for a moment… The fact that she was questioned immediately after an anesthetic. We don’t …
“Tell me about grandpa and World War 1,” I asked my dad. “Well, he didn’t talk about it much,” he replied. “He said it was hell. He was in France, for three years I think, first in the cavalry and then he was a sniper. I believe he was quite a good shot.” And so …
As the inquest into Savita Halappanavar’s death continues we have heard about delays and errors, all of which most likely contributed to her terrible outcome. However, along the way those who have tried to pass off her death as medical negligence and nothing to do with Irish law or Catholic ethos have rested on the …
The Irish Catholic Bishops have seen fit to clarify the church’s view on gynecology given Savita Halappanavar’s death from sepsis at 17 weeks in her pregnancy and the concern that evacuating her uterus was delayed because the fetus still had a heart beat. The full statement is here, but this is the excerpt I find …
Mothers who deliver prematurely face serious health risks that are often neglected when we talk about prematurity. Today, in honor of Savita Halappanavar’s death from sepsis that was a direct result of her previable premature delivery, I would like to let the world in on the physical perils faced by mothers who deliver prematurely. Many …
Continue reading “The physical dangers for mothers who deliver prematurely”
This is what is known. Savita Halappanavar was 31 years old and happy to be pregnant with her first child. Then, at 17 weeks, tragedy struck and she was “found to be miscarrying.” Her husband reports that she was in “severe pain” for three days at the hospital and a termination was requested. He says …
Continue reading “Did Irish Catholic law or malpractice kill Savita Halappanavar?”
The Georgia legislature passed a new abortion bill (HB 954). Yet another law (it’s only a matter of time before it’s signed) governing the practice of medicine based on nothing resembling science. The issues: Fetal pain. The law will make Georgia the seventh state to enact a gestational age limit based on the false belief …
Dr. Jen Gunter 