Amber Alert issued for fetus

She's been found, fortunately for the family, alive and well.
Sadly she won't grow up with a mother :-( I heard an amber alert had been
issued? It kind of irks me they were still calling her a fetus. I know it's
a correct medical term, just one I don't like.

--
Amy,
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
email: barton . souto @ clear . net . nz (join the dots!)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/c/carlos2002/


"Richard" wrote in message
...
Amber Alert issued after fetus removed from woman's body

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/17/mis...tus/index.html

telling excerpt:

"....the case did not meet the criteria for an Amber
Alert because authorities did not know the child's
hair or eye color or any other details."

a dramatic illustration of the chasm between the spirit
and the letter of the law.

Richard
Micaela's dad

"Mum of Two" wrote in message
...
She's been found, fortunately for the family, alive and well.
Sadly she won't grow up with a mother :-( I heard an amber alert had been
issued? It kind of irks me they were still calling her a fetus. I know
it's a correct medical term, just one I don't like.


At the time they didn't know if she had survived.

"Child" wrote in message
...

"Mum of Two" wrote in message
...
She's been found, fortunately for the family, alive and well.
Sadly she won't grow up with a mother :-( I heard an amber alert had
been
issued? It kind of irks me they were still calling her a fetus. I know
it's a correct medical term, just one I don't like.


At the time they didn't know if she had survived.

Actually, once she's born, she's not a fetus-she's a baby, legally, although
she may not be a living one. And at 36 weeks, she had a much better chance
of being born alive than not. Even my son, at 22 weeks, was considered a
baby once he was delivered, although he survived only a few minutes.

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
t...

"Child" wrote in message
...

"Mum of Two" wrote in message
...
She's been found, fortunately for the family, alive and well.
Sadly she won't grow up with a mother :-( I heard an amber alert had
been
issued? It kind of irks me they were still calling her a fetus. I know
it's a correct medical term, just one I don't like.


At the time they didn't know if she had survived.

Actually, once she's born, she's not a fetus-she's a baby, legally,
although
she may not be a living one. And at 36 weeks, she had a much better chance
of being born alive than not. Even my son, at 22 weeks, was considered a
baby once he was delivered, although he survived only a few minutes.



but they didn't know - last time anyone saw her, she was a fetus.

"Child" wrote in message
...

"Mum of Two" wrote in message
...
She's been found, fortunately for the family, alive and well.
Sadly she won't grow up with a mother :-( I heard an amber alert had been
issued? It kind of irks me they were still calling her a fetus. I know
it's a correct medical term, just one I don't like.


At the time they didn't know if she had survived.

That wasn't really what I meant. My son was delivered stillborn at 29 weeks,
but I don't think about him or talk about him as a fetus, he was and is my
baby. My friend and neighbour recently m/c at 14 weeks, a *baby* which had
developed to 8 weeks. We don't talk about her 'fetus' either.

I'm involved with a local miscarriage support service who among other
things, puts out information pamphlets on miscarriage. We had them checked
over by a local OB/GYN for accuracy before going to print, and he was
emphatic that we should change every mention of 'baby' to 'fetus'. We
refused, of course, because these women have lost *babies*!
To call them 'fetuses' diminishes their importance. It's a medical term,
acceptable when a pregnancy is being discussed between doctors, or in
medical texts. IMO, it's not an acceptable term for a doctor to use when
describing a patient's baby to the patient, or in fact any member of the
public discussing anyone else's baby. It has become derogatory, and makes a
clear distinction between a baby born living, and one that was not.
If you believe that love and the value of life cannot be measured in pounds
or inches, or in number of breaths taken, this makes sense.

--
Amy,
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
email: barton . souto @ clear . net . nz (join the dots!)
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/c/carlos2002/

I totally agree that it is a medical term that I don't think is appropriate
most of the time. The actual sound of the word makes me cringe.

It's like how doctors used to and some still do, use the term abortion
rather than m/c. The former being quite correct for the medical field but
not pleasant for the women involved. I have lost 4 babies and would rip
anyone a new a hole if they said I had lost my 4 foetuses to abortion.
Wording is very important when you are dealing with peoples feelings.

Pip

My ex sil saw that in her chart it said she had 2 abortions when in truth
she had 2 miscarrages and was verry upset. To her they are 2 differant
things and she did not want anyone to have the impression that she ended the
pregnancies willingly.

Tori

--
Bonnie 3/20/02
Xavier 10/27/04
"Pip" wrote in message
...
I totally agree that it is a medical term that I don't think is appropriate
most of the time. The actual sound of the word makes me cringe.

It's like how doctors used to and some still do, use the term abortion
rather than m/c. The former being quite correct for the medical field but
not pleasant for the women involved. I have lost 4 babies and would rip
anyone a new a hole if they said I had lost my 4 foetuses to abortion.
Wording is very important when you are dealing with peoples feelings.

Pip

In ,
Mum of Two wrote:

*I'm involved with a local miscarriage support service who among other
*things, puts out information pamphlets on miscarriage. We had them checked
*over by a local OB/GYN for accuracy before going to print, and he was
*emphatic that we should change every mention of 'baby' to 'fetus'. We
*refused, of course, because these women have lost *babies*!
*To call them 'fetuses' diminishes their importance. It's a medical term,
*acceptable when a pregnancy is being discussed between doctors, or in
*medical texts. IMO, it's not an acceptable term for a doctor to use when
*describing a patient's baby to the patient, or in fact any member of the
*public discussing anyone else's baby. It has become derogatory, and makes a
*clear distinction between a baby born living, and one that was not.

This makes no sense to me.

I have two live children.
I have had one (known) miscarriage.
I am currently 35.5 weeks pregnant.

When I miscarried (in the first trimester), I lost a fetus. I am
completely comfortable with that (well, not with the loss, but with the
terminology) and do not in any way feel that correctly describing the loss
in any way diminishes the importance of the loss. It is CERTAINLY not
derogatory to describe it as the loss of a fetus.

Regarding the Amber Alert, I also found it odd that they described a late
third trimester preterm infant as a fetus. Once a late third trimester
fetus is delivered, it becomes a baby - by convention of course, and
hopefully due to changes in the circulatory system and due to changes in
respiration and so on. Unless it dies because it can not make the leap
from fetus to baby, that is. But that would be unlikely at that late
stage, I think.

Still, I think it is somewhat absurd to claim that the use of the word
"fetus" to describe an unborn human (or other unborn animal) is
"derogatory." It just isn't, among any social group I am familiar with,
anyway. It may be emotionally upsetting to some people, but that's a
different story.

-h.
--
Hillary Israeli, VMD
Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is
too dark to read." --Groucho Marx

In ,
Pip wrote:

*
*It's like how doctors used to and some still do, use the term abortion
*rather than m/c. The former being quite correct for the medical field but
*not pleasant for the women involved. I have lost 4 babies and would rip
*anyone a new a hole if they said I had lost my 4 foetuses to abortion.
*Wording is very important when you are dealing with peoples feelings.

But no real medical professional would say you lost those pregnancies to
"abortion" without a qualifier. It would be either "spontaneous abortion,"
which is the same as miscarriage, or it would be "elective abortion,"
which is what is colloquially referred to as "an abortion." Given that
spontaneous abortion and miscarriage are different words with the same
definition, why does it matter which is used? I truly don't understand.

-Hillary, gravida 4, para 2, 2-0-SA1-2 (that's 4 pregnancies, 2
deliveries, 2 fullterm infants, no premies, one spontaneous abortion,
two live kids)


--
Hillary Israeli, VMD
Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is
too dark to read." --Groucho Marx

"Mum of Two" wrote in message
...
"Child" wrote in message
...

"Mum of Two" wrote in message
...
She's been found, fortunately for the family, alive and well.
Sadly she won't grow up with a mother :-( I heard an amber alert had
been issued? It kind of irks me they were still calling her a fetus. I
know it's a correct medical term, just one I don't like.


At the time they didn't know if she had survived.

That wasn't really what I meant. My son was delivered stillborn at 29
weeks, but I don't think about him or talk about him as a fetus, he was
and is my baby. My friend and neighbour recently m/c at 14 weeks, a *baby*
which had developed to 8 weeks. We don't talk about her 'fetus' either.

I'm involved with a local miscarriage support service who among other
things, puts out information pamphlets on miscarriage. We had them checked
over by a local OB/GYN for accuracy before going to print, and he was
emphatic that we should change every mention of 'baby' to 'fetus'. We
refused, of course, because these women have lost *babies*!
To call them 'fetuses' diminishes their importance. It's a medical term,
acceptable when a pregnancy is being discussed between doctors, or in
medical texts. IMO, it's not an acceptable term for a doctor to use when
describing a patient's baby to the patient, or in fact any member of the
public discussing anyone else's baby. It has become derogatory, and makes
a clear distinction between a baby born living, and one that was not.
If you believe that love and the value of life cannot be measured in
pounds or inches, or in number of breaths taken, this makes sense.


I sure believe this.

Of all people, OB/GYNs should know many women are sensitive on this point.

I like the comment made by Stephanie Soderblom CLD CCCE CD(DONA) ICD

"...as much as my baby was my baby from the moment of
conception...it's not legally considered an infant unless it's born
alive, even for a few breaths."

Todd

PS If I counted right, Stephanie needs only one more certification or
degree to have as many letters after her name as are in her name. : )