Do you remember the day on which you were ushered into this world? I bet you can't unless you have a memory like an elephant. However, you must have been told about what you looked like, who you looked like, how much did you weight … What's more, I'm certain some of you must have been underweight newborns for I myself weighted 150 g below minimum, as I was born fifteen days before expected. Yet, modern medicine has progressed to such an extent that nowadays saving premies born at the margins of viability, that's, at less than 26 weeks of pregnancy, isn't a pipe dream anymore, but a fact. Despite everything, the outcomes of those attempts have triggered a very controversial debate to arise. Is it justified to try to resuscitate very preterm children?

As a way of opening, please allow me to introduce these two children to you. The one on the right is Layla. By the time, she is a normal, twelve-year-old child, indeed nothing suggests otherwise, but for the fact she has an intellectual quotient above average. Nonetheless, her mother was 24 weeks pregnant when she was born!

On the other hand, let's meet Bright, the lad on the left. Like Layla, he was also born prematurely, just 24 weeks into pregnancy. However, he wasn't as lucky as her, since he now suffers cerebral palsy, he can't neither walk nor talk and fully depends on his parents.

In fact, a study found that only 11% of all babies born at about 24 weeks survived and, from those who surviveed, by the age of six, only 20% had no disabilities; 22% had severe disabilities, including cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness or arrested development and 34% had milder problems such as learning disabilities.

All in all, thinking about the aforementioned rates of death and disability, it's little wonder doctors do have misgivings about whether attempts to revive preterm newborns are justified. Some physicians assert trying to resuscitate fetal infants is reasonable for some wonderful cases have arisen, whereas others claim they would better be left to die depending on the prospect of survival or of survival with no disabilities they have.

To my mind, occasionally we may attain victory by withdrawing on time . This position statement may seem heartless from my part as it would mean children are deprived from their right to live. But, do you really deem it worthy to make those infants undertake such aggressive treatments when it's been shown their chance for surviving isn't much high? And in the event they survive, one can refrain from considering the long-term outcomes, for as we've already stated, most of premies suffer some kind of disability in the future and, like Bright, may end up living like vegetables. For God's sake, that's not living, but enduring life!
So, what should be done? Should there be a lower limit of gestational age below which intensive care should not be offered? Well, as a matter of fact, we can refer to Holland , where doctors do not routinely administer intensive care to babies born before 25 weeks of pregnancy. Anyway, I'm of the opinion it's not fair to subject premies to a “trial of life” on the grouds of their age, since there's no way one can tell which babies born at 25 weeks or less will survive or which ones won't be disabled somehow. Thereafter, I don't agree with those who assert a cut-off is to be set. Nevertheless, I don't consider resuscitating all of them is the solution as there are many other factors aside from the right to live which are to be considered such as long-term effects, doctors' point of view, parents' opinion, but, primarily, the infant's interests. So, if death is a better outcome than continued life with treatment or if the baby is likely to become a burden for society, economics – it's pretty dear to support disabled children – and above all things for themselves, then, I think sustaining treatments would better not be withhold.
Nevertheless, it's a highly tricky question and trying to put ourselves either in the parents' shoes or in those of physicians is not easy. In fact, if truth be told, I don't know how I would respond if I was at the place of either of them for, what may spring from the battle between heart and head is always unpredictable.

To finish with, aside from making you chew on the issue we have been dealing with, by means of my exposition, I wanted you to realize we are about to enter adulthood, if we haven't yet. And being a grown-up implies, henceforth we will have to make our own decisions and sometimes, what we will come face to face with, won't be trifle, but dilemmas such as the one I've been talking about.