Dear friends, Thanks for your advices and sharing. The baby is inoperable. The left side of the heart is not there, the aorta is hihgly underdeveloped, so as soon as the ductus of botalli closes the baby will go into a coma. Only a transplantation could help and that's impossible, they only do it on older children. We have pretty good heartsurgeons in Belgium, lets say that they are much better in pathology, but forgot a lot about fysiology :-))
I already suggested the mother to write things down. She has a very good contact with the baby, she can exactly tell how he is laying in her womb. We listen to the heartbeat together and she can talk about it. We plan to make foto's at birth and after. The mothers chooses a homebirth at this moment. It was her decision already for a healthy child and now she wants to be sure that there are no interventions to 'save' the baby. In the university hospital they sayd that if she gives birth there, for sure the baby will get an operation, even when there is no hope for him. It will be a child of the science. In the nearby hospital, the gyn is very supportive to her, but in a hospital so many peaple are involved and she will never know what midwife will be with her, what gyn, or what pediatrician. Even when she gets all what she wants, you can never predict that it is not a very busy day with a lot of births and that she can't stay in peace with her baby and her husband. I indeed feel it as a great honor and privilige to be with them and I also see birth and death as 'gateway' experiences. Maybe the baby just needs to be live in the womb and be born to become complete. Thanks for your support and I will let you know what happens. Warm greetings Lieve -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
