Is it wrong to save them? Doctors are developing miraculous ways to save even the tiniest of newborns. Many worry that the outcomes might not all be positive.
Debate over care for tiniest babies
Is it wrong to save them? Doctors are developing miraculous ways to save even the tiniest of newborns. Many worry that the outcomes might not all be positive.
At 22 weeks a baby is around the size of a sweet potato. Its lungs and kidneys are still developing. Its immune system is very fragile.
For most of history babies born at 22 weeks - known as extremely premature - had no chance of survival outside their mother's body.
Now, everything has changed. A baby born at 22 weeks has a chance of life, with some doctors saying as many as one third could survive.
However, many of the extremely premature babies saved today will develop long-term health problems.
Extremely premature babies are vulnerable to infections and may be in unspeakable pain. By trying to save them, doctors might be adding to this pain.
Extremely premature babies need around-the-clock care. The pressures are immense and survival is against the odds.
But some say that we have a moral obligation to do all we can to save all lives. As writer George Bernard Shaw said: "Life itself is the miracle of miracles."
Is it wrong to save them?
Yes! Just think of how much pain these tiny, helpless newborns are being subjected to, sometimes for months on end.
No! That the vast majority of parents choose to actively treat their extremely premature babies shows that it is the right thing to do.
Debate over care for tiniest babies
