This is what happens when government decides who gets care and who doesn't. Coming to a US state near you soon.

The US government DOES choose who gets what care. Those with enough money get higher levels of care than those with less money.

The perfect demonstration of a two-tier system. The wealthy get and the poor don't.

Originally posted by PaddyInf

The wealthy get and the poor don't.

Isnt that the "American dream" they keep on about ?

I'm very pro the NHS. And The weight would be guidelies probably for the sanity of the parents and medical staff. If they can't save a child below a certain weight then it's not their fault, tey were up against it.

However, things aren't as Rosey as they were 30 years ago.

The NHS is in decay, Thatcher began it and it's continued with each and every successive government. I certainly wouldn't trade it for the US system. Hand in hand with the NHS decay comes the gradual march of privatisation.

Ironically the NHS is only worsening as it moves towards an privatised US system.

There is so much misinformation here it's insane. I have an entire family in the medical profession and my wife works in the NICU. I can't hardly click on this section because of all those that have NO idea... misinformation coming from all sides. You can't even argue it, because a lot of people here are arguing two wrong ideas, lol.

Originally posted by justsaying
But also, miracles can happen and some will overcome all odds and live through all of this. I don't know if that is about the baby's will to live or God granting miracles. My personal opinion is to give life a chance if there is a small chance at survival.

They do "give life a chance". Despite what the original, very misinformed source stated, if a baby is breathing then the hospital staff will give it a go. The fact is though when a child is born before 24 weeks the chances are they won't be breathing anyway because their lungs aren't mature enough. Pretty much all babies born before 38 weeks (which is the definition of a premature birth) require some degree of steroid treatment to try to mature the lungs quicker to give the best outcome. Prior to 24 weeks this treatment is almost always unsuccessful as they simply aren't developed enough to function.

Current guidelines state that resuscitation attempts prior to 24 weeks should only be carried out in controlled trials as there are too many variables and these attempts should be used to develop better treatment guidelines and methods to improve survivability. Most consultants however will give it a fair crack of the whip from 22 weeks onward. Prior to that your are realistically looking at a well-developed foetus.

I think what this thread has demonstrated is the need to research a topic before relying on a fairly suspect original source when starting a thread. The blaze is pretty much just an internet tabloid who do little to no real research into their stories, much like any other tabloid.