An Obligation to Understand

By Diane C. Nicholson -

In 1983 my husband and I watched and cried as our newborn twin sons died. Their deaths were unexpected and difficult to live through. Yet we survived. With the love and support of family and many friends, we were able to bear the several years it took to feel whole again.

Our babies were born with renal agenesis. For reasons unknown, their kidneys never formed. Although this condition can be detected before birth, I am thankful that we did not know. At that point in my life I would have chosen to carry the pregnancy to term. Going through the difficulties of having twins is hard enough. But the knowledge that my babies would die soon after their lifelines to me were cut would have made that pregnancy almost unbearable.

The experience of grief forces one into long hours of contemplation. It opens one’s eyes to the realities of the world. Often it is the first time one becomes aware that horrors don’t always happen to other people. Rather, they are a continuous part of everyday life. When I came to the conclusion that life is not always fair, my priorities were given careful analysis and readjusted.

We live in a world where absolutes cannot exist. For one thing, they don’t fit in a society with such a diversity of religions, cultures, experiences, and value systems as ours has.

Further, absolutes imply perfection, and ours is an imperfect world, where suffering, even by the innocent, is commonplace. So we must adjust to situations less than what we consider perfect.

Our politicians are struggling with legislating whether or not abortion should be allowed, and under what circumstances. The pro-life forces are doing their level best, sometimes with less than ethical and compassionate tactics, to stop all abortions. Other radical groups feel abortions should be legal in every situation. Both sides are seeking a single answer. What they don’t realize is that this is an issue that will never be resolved. As long as there are two beings sharing the same body, there cannot be one answer.

A pregnancy creates some of the greatest stresses, both physical and emotional, that a woman can go through. Some women have few problems with it, others have many. For a mature woman who wants her baby, it is difficult enough to go through the constant aches, varicose veins, stretch marks, insomnia and nausea. If she is supported and the baby loved, the pregnancy can very well be a happy time of anticipation.

But if the mother is herself a child, finds herself suddenly alienated from family and friends, and hates the fetus within her, the nine months may seem like a prison sentence. She is much more likely to abuse her own body, and likewise the baby’s by smoking, drinking, and taking other drugs. That increases the risk to both mother and baby. And it means that this baby, who has spent nine months living in the resulting hostile environment, will be a much more likely candidate for perinatal death or emotional and physical injury.

If the mother does not keep the child, it is placed in a foster home until, and if, someone is willing to adopt another special-needs child. Of course that doesn’t always happen, but it is not uncommon.

I have no problem admitting that a fetus is a human from conception. And I would like to be able to say that no one has the right to take a life. But I no longer believe that to be true. There are times and occasions when killing a human being is justifiable. Emergency response teams are justified in shooting a man holding a knife at a child’s throat. The Allies were justified in killing in order to stop the Nazis in the Second World War. And doctors are justified in removing the beating heart from a brain-dead patient to save the life of another, potentially viable person.

The decision to abort a baby does not come easily to any woman. And it is likely that she will grieve for her baby if she does not keep it. But the grief from an early abortion does not approach the pain of losing a baby at term, whether from death or adoption. As well as losing our sons, my husband and I had several miscarriages. I grieved for every one of those wanted and loved babies. But the loss of them was resolved much more quickly than the death of our twins.

It is so easy for others to tell a woman that she can always give the baby up for adoption, as if it were like selling a loved puppy. Mothers who have given up their babies often spend a lifetime in mourning. It is an unresolved grief because they are always wondering if the child is all right, if it is being loved and cared for, even if it is still alive.

Of course the mother can keep her baby. And if she is mature enough and supported enough maybe she can live through weeks of sleep deprivation without battering or neglecting her child. Parenthood is wonderful in the right circumstances. But when we look in the papers, or watch the news, we are reminded of how often it is not.

In an ideal world, every pregnancy would be planned, loved, and healthy. But as things are, some compromises must be made. Accidents do happen; nature does not always produce a healthy child. Not all families are capable of dealing with the stresses of a severely handicapped child; not all women and girls are capable of coping with an unwanted pregnancy. To force them into living through such conditions is cruel and smacks of society imposing a punishment.

Very early in pregnancy, women should be given unbiased counseling in which they are informed of their choices and what, if any, support services are available. Then, if the woman is adamant about ending the pregnancy, she should have an abortion, quickly if possible, while the conceptus is still an embryo or a very young fetus. The abortion should be considered self-defense. If the abortion is performed for genetic or congenital reasons, it must necessarily be done at a more advanced stage. The procedure then could be considered euthanasia. All abortions should be done humanely and with reverence for the life it was necessary to take.

We all know of cases where it seemed that a woman used abortion as a form of birth control, and did so without a second thought. But if we were able to step inside her body for awhile, we might come away with a very different perspective. What is easy for one may for another be very difficult, if not impossible. What is acceptable for one may be excruciatingly painful for another. In an ideal world we would be able to say that no circumstances warrant the taking of a life. But then, in an ideal world we would have no human misery.

Genetic counselors gave our next baby a 50 per cent chance of having no kidneys. Since renal agenesis is always fatal, we did a lot of soul-searching before accepting the risk. After much time spent in grief, and our fourth miscarriage, we resolved to try one last time. I decided against antenatal screening, feeling I could deal with whatever might come. Had I not had such a supportive husband and family, I might well have made a different choice. As it was, we were lucky and were blessed with a nine-pound five-ounce son; finally, a healthy brother for our seven year-old son.

As human beings living in society, we have an obligation to try to understand other positions on difficult social and moral problems, even when we profoundly disagree. Unfortunately the abortion debate has polarized opinions so that it seems that one must either be in favor of innocent babies’ lives, or for the rights of women to control their own bodies.

No single formula can resolve the dilemma. Both the pro-life and the pro-choice positions contain important considerations. But every situation must be considered on its own merits.

Let’s not forget that people are individuals in unique situations that need to be looked at in their own terms, with understanding and compassion.

Diane C. Nicholson http://www.twinheartphoto.com is a freelance writer and photo-artist specializing in families of all species. As a bereaved parent herself, she has worked extensively with other grieving parents and now creates “memorial art” in which she uses their own snapshots (how many of us have wished we’d gotten that portrait, too late– including stillborn infants) and turns them into art. These can be used as cards to give out at funerals and memorial services (all accomplished online) or printed onto a stretched canvas, ready to hang.

She also has quality, Earth-friendly posters (one, First Born, is her most famous. It is the once-in-a-lifetime photo of a mare and foal lying down and cuddling together. These 18 x 24 posters have been bought for walls of maternity offices and birthing centers, new baby gifts, and so on, along with the regular Holiday gift-giving.

Other than her own art, Diane specializes her photography sessions on “Bellies, Births and Babies”. She loves the whole birthing process and used to teach prenatal classes as well as attend births as support. Now she leaves that to midwives and doulas and records the memories in stunning photographs of the working, birthing couple and the new family.

Because of the economy, Diane is trying to help a little with Holiday expenses by temporarily lowering the prices of her wall-art: http://www.twinheartphoto.com/Wall%20Art.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diane_C._Nicholson

Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion by Theresa Burke, Ph.D with David C. Reardon, Ph.D.

By Kathryn Lively -

Book Review
Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion by Theresa Burke, Ph.D with David C. Reardon, Ph.D.
Acorn Books, 0964895757, $24.95

Grief after abortion is neither expected nor permitted in our society, so is the claim of Dr. Theresa Burke, founder of Rachel’s Vineyard, a program designed for women suffering from post-abortion trauma to seek emotional and spiritual healing. One who chooses to argue against this point may have difficultly backing it up, considering how post-abortion trauma is rarely discussed in the media, much less in public. An episode of HBO’s Sex and the City comes to mind, where one principal character encouraged another to abort an unplanned pregnancy. She cited how she had two of her own, waving off the memory as if recalling a trip to the dentist.

The real world is not always this accurate, and few support groups, if any, match the mission statement of Rachel’s Vineyard. Abortion, as one faction would have people believe, is supposed to provide “relief, not grief,” writes Burke, though this does mean a woman will not experience grief or loss following an abortion. The grief, despite the pro-choice movement’s determination to soften the edges of the procedure, is real, and the pain of post-abortion women recorded by Dr. Burke in Forbidden Grief reflects but a fraction of the emotional trauma a woman can suffer, as if mourning the loss of a child brought to term.

Forbidden Grief is a compassionate book, a survey of why women choose to terminate pregnancies and why they do not feel better for having done so when they were led to believe otherwise. The book is not necessarily an argument against abortion, nor are Dr. Burke’s subjects berated for having made the choice to abort. Dr. Burke’s book serves to examine the various cause and effect processes involved in abortion, and to inform readers that emotional support can be had without bias.

There is Tina, so obsessed with pregnancy after her abortion that she tried to compensate for the loss by fashioning a towel under her dress to give the impression that she was expecting. Barbara, having undergone three abortions, purposely became obese to the point that she could no longer walk as a method of self-punishment. There are others, some who experienced abortions in the double digits, all of whom acted out their pain in different ways. Some baffled friends and relatives with their behavior, and others chose to withdraw from the world, but all shared a common thread aside from abortion: they came to Dr. Burke for help.

Dr. Burke writes that “healing can only happen when…one’s story is revealed to others who do not seek to judge or condemn.” Forbidden Grief is not a how-to healing manual for post-abortive women, but it is a valuable tool in helping everyone — regardless of whether or not they have had an abortion — understand that post-abortion trauma is real and as such should be treated as a legitimate problem. One would not tell an alcoholic or a compulsive gambler to just “get over it,” people with these problems would be encourage to seek professional help. So, Dr. Burke reasons, should any woman or man affected adversely by abortion, and it is this reasoning and Dr. Burke’s desire to make this type of trauma known that makes Forbidden Grief a welcome resource.

Kathryn Lively is http://blog.thewriteseo.comThe Write SEO. An author and reviewer, Kathryn offers free advice to aspiring authors through her websites. She is the author of Pithed: An Andy Farmer Mystery, available from Mundania Press, LLC. Visit her website at http://www.kathrynlively.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Lively

Pregnancy and Fertility - What You Can Say to Somebody Following a Miscarriage or Stillbirth

By Deirdre Morris -

Miscarriage matters. Maybe somebody you know or love has experienced miscarriage or stillbirth and you are not sure how to respond. What should you do? What should you say?

You may sense that something important has taken place in this person’s life, but you are not sure how to connect or support them.

Fear of Saying the ‘Wrong’ Thing After Miscarriage or Stillbirth

You don’t know how to treat the situation. Does he/she feel that she has lost a baby? Or is miscarriage or stillbirth much less intimate than that?

It can be very confusing. Especially when you care about the person who has experienced the miscarriage/stillbirth.

All too often this confusion and fear of making an inappropriate comment has paralysed people into silence leaving both parties feeling awkward and sad.

What You Can Safely Say after Miscarriage or Stillbirth

Instead of feeling the pressure of having to say something about the miscarriage / stillbirth (and not knowing what to say), it can be very useful to just ask a question.

You don’t really know what is going on for parents who have experienced miscarriage or stillbirth, but a question like ‘How is this for you?’ or ‘Would you like to tell me about it’ gives grieving couples the opportunity to talk or otherwise.

Sometimes all they want is for people to acknowledge that their baby has died or that miscarriage matters. They don’t expect you to make it better. But the silence can be very painful.

Be kind to yourself. There is no pressure. But if it feels right, do reach out and ask.

Deirdre Morris would like to invite you to visit http://www.magicalbeginningsforbaby.com for more information about how to bring healing into miscarriage and other fertility issues.

Deirdre also provides a FREE GIFT sample of her Pregnancy Playbook (workbook) which supports couples in making changes on the unconscious level and activates the law of attraction so that they can go on to enjoy empowering, inspired fertility, pregnancy and birth.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deirdre_Morris

Finding Ways to Cope With Pregnancy Loss

By Kari Hoopes -

Staring at the flat green ultrasound screen, all I could think was, it isn’t possible.  I was so careful to eat right, stay healthy, do everything I could.

My obstetrician brought in two other doctors to confirm the ultrasound. I had lost my baby in utero at 29 weeks.   It still seemed like a bad dream when I had to make that horrible phone call to my husband and tell him to come to the hospital. We had planned this pregnancy, found out it was a girl, and named her. We had talked about how we were going to raise her and love her and teach her all sorts of things. We had been in excited anticipation of her future the entire pregnancy. And now, I had the task of telling my husband she was gone.

Our doctor sent us home for the night to get some rest (if we could) before labor was induced the next day for delivery.  My husband and I couldn’t go home. We stopped by quickly and gathered some clothes and headed to his parents house 30 minutes away. We didn’t want to be alone that night.

After I delivered our daughter, Anne, the next day, our doctor and the staff let us hold her as long as we needed. She was perfect – just like I knew she always was. A perfect two pound angel.

What caused me to lose Anne? My doctor said the umbilical cord was inserted wrong in my placenta and therefore my daughter was not getting enough nutrition and oxygen. There was no one to blame.  It took me a long time to let myself come to terms with that. I questioned everything in my life right down to the food I ate. I thought there must be a definitive answer for WHY? Not so. It just happened.

I was invited to attend a group called SHARE Parents. I was surprised to find out that one in every five women experiences this kind of loss. Whether it is a miscarriage or losing a child at birth. I also found out that there are numerous ways to deal with, move on, and grow from such a loss.

After speaking with a nurse from the delivery unit of Logan Regional Hospital where I delivered Anne, I discovered that just twenty five years ago society as a whole and the medical field did not address ways to cope with infant loss or miscarriages. They simply removed the baby from the mother’s sight as soon as possible and sent her home, almost as if the child had never been. This, they thought, was in the mother’s best interest for moving on.  However, today women who experience such a loss are cared for much differently. Medical professionals have now recognized the emotional health effects of infant loss on the mother, father, and family involved.  Below are several key ways that have helped myself and others like me come to terms with the loss of an infant or a miscarriage.

1) Name your child if you haven’t already done so. This will help you and family members feel that he or she was truly a part of your family.

2)If possible, hold your child. When my husband and I were able to hold Anne for a couple of hours at the hospital we felt a special peace from holding and touching her little fingers and legs and seeing how she looked like us.

3)Take pictures or have someone do that for you. Sometimes grief/loss groups will come and take pictures of your child for you dressed in a beautiful white dress or white outfit. These are very tasteful and will become keepsake treasures. Ask your hospital to contact one of these groups in your area for you to see if this service is available. You can also take pictures in the hospital of you holding your baby or of just his or her little hands or feet to help you always remember what they looked like.

4) Put together a keepsake box of your child. This could include a blanket that the baby what bundled in at the hospital, a clip of hair, pictures, a tiny teddy bear, and any other memorabilia you can think of.

5)Plant a flower garden or tree in your child’s name.

6)Write a letter to your child. This can be particularly healing and you can also gain closure to your grief by doing this. You can tell your child how much you love him or her and other hopes and thoughts you think they would want to know. You can include this letter in a keepsake box or keep it in a special place to look at when you need to.

7)Celebrate their birthday. Their is nothing wrong with celebrating the short life they did have. It doesn’t matter if you lost your child at 16 weeks in utero or shortly after a full term delivery. They are your child and you can celebrate their birthday each year.  Give a gift to another child, or visit their grave with flowers.  My husband and like to set aside her birthday each year for remembrance. You can also celebrate their birthday each year by doing a kind act for someone.

8)Cry. Let it out as much as possible when you feel the need. If your alone and you don’t want to be, call a friend to come over or go see a family member that has a soft shoulder to lean on. Your feelings are 100% real and need expressing. The more you hold them in the more detrimental it can become to your mental and emotional life.

9)Turn to your husband or family when dealing with your grief. Odds are they are feeling very sad too and you can comfort each other in turn. It is especially important to stay as close as possible to your husband. This kind of loss can easily tear a relationship apart. Take this loss as a que to talk to each other even more, find comfort in intimacy, and constantly be checking on the other person daily to see how they are doing.

10) Ignore unwelcome comments. Many people don’t know what to say when someone else loses a baby and their comments may even come out sounding harsh or unfeeling.This can be especially jolting when they come from family members or friends. Most of the time the person does not realize what they are saying and actually means well. Ignore the comment as much as possible and change the conversation or you can choose to address the comment with a loving tone that lets the other person know how that comment makes you feel.

I hope that these ten ways to cope with the loss of an infant are helpful. I realize each loss is unique and requires its own route to healing. When I lost Anne I was forced to discover my own strength. To either grow that much stronger in my religious beliefs or shrink away from them. To grow closer to my husband or drift apart emotionally.

A couple of months after my loss I read a book that was given to me by a friend. It’s called Gone Too Soon: The Life and Loss of Infants and Unborn Children, by Sherri Wittwer. As I was reading I was struck by a particular passage that said, “To experience the full spectrum of the most heart-wrenching emotions in the human experience and to still emerge triumphant is, indeed, the miracle.”  Getting through it is the miracle!  As women we are not invincible. With all our divine strengths also comes great vulnerability. However, when we can allow both time and the grieving process to heal us, we can be transformed into our own miracle. Do whatever helps bring peace to your life.

It has now been about three and a half years since I lost Anne. We’ve since had two beautiful and healthy children. I’d give anything to also have Anne with me, and one day when my children are old enough to understand, I look forward to telling them about the sister they’ve never met. For now, I hold on to the memory of her little life that was once a part of me, to the belief that she will always be my daughter, and that someday I will see her and hold her in my arms again.

Kari Hoopes: Journalist, editor of health.yourbetterbuy.com and developer of the Sweetly You Bath & Body product line.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kari_Hoopes