David's Daily Diversions

Would You Like to Hold Your Baby?

What do you give the girl who has everything?

How about her own baby in a tube of water? That's what a nurse at Bishop Auckland General Hosital gave Stacey Storey. Well, they didn't really give it to her. They just asked her to take it home overnight, keep it in the fridge, and bring it back in the morning.

Thanks to the Government's teen sex policies, the 14-year-old found herself in the family way and despite the easy path to termination and her 17-year-old boyfriend's quick exit, she intended to keep the child. Unfortunately, she started miscarrying and her mum rushed her to Bishop Auckland. She finished miscarrying while waiting 20 minutes to be seen.

When the nurse came in, she put the 11-week-old foetus in a tube, asked if Stacey was okay, and booked an appointment with the gynaecology department for the next day. There seems to have been very little regard for her physical well-being, not to mention her mental state.

Is it any wonder that groups like Life have to offer counselling after miscarriage? If losing a baby wasn't enough, the callous disregard by medical professionals compounds the grief and depression.

This isn't an isolated case maternity mismanagement at Bishop Auckland General. Stacey's mum lost a baby at 38 weeks. The baby was breech and was supposed to be turned at the hospital. Four days before her appointment, the maternity unit at Bishop Auckland General was downgraded to only deal with uncomplicated births so a new appointment had to be made at another hospital. During the delay the baby died.

Between the babies deliberately killed and those lost through neglect, it is no wonder we don't have a replacement rate of population growth.