Babies Destined to Die

TAMPA, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A pregnancy is supposed to be a time for joy, but it can turn to tragedy when a family finds out their baby will die after it's born. While some choose to end the pregnancy, a British study found four out of ten families choose to continue the pregnancy.

August 4th, 2006, Nevan Brown was born at 9 PM. "We had him and he was beautiful. We wouldn't have given that up for anything," Mike and Lisa Brown told Ivanhoe. Nevan was born with severe heart defects. On his chest, broken blood vessels formed the shape of a cross, a sign from above for his parents. Nevan died at 10 PM.

During the tenth week of pregnancy, Lisa and Mike found out Nevan would not live. "I felt like we had a choice, we could live with grief or we could live with guilt and grief," Lisa said.

Stacy Orloff, Ed.D. and Jane Parker lead the Hospice Perinatal Loss Program at The Hospice of the Florida Suncaost.

"I'm amazed when I see the numbers because it is a huge amount of people," Dr. Orloff told Ivanhoe.

The number of mothers who lose their babies before birth is equally as alarming. In the U.S. one in five clinically recognized pregnancies ends in miscarriage and one in every 115 babies is stillborn. In four years, this program has helped 350 families. Jane Parker is one of the volunteer doulas.

"It's the best job I wish I never had to do because that would mean no babies would be lost," said Parker. The doulas help families cope and also create the memories they want. "Do I cry? I certainly do. I have tears in my eyes many times," Parker said.

"She helped us stay focused and in the moment and that helped tremendously," Lisa Brown said.

Two years later, the tears still flow for the Browns, but so does the laughter. The Browns have three sons, one of which, they believe, watches over them in heaven.

If you would like more information, please contact:

The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast

http://www.thehospice.org

More more information about perinatal hospice programs, click here!