Traditionally, doctors and nurses dealt with babies born with fatalanomalies by whisking them away from their mothers to die. But in the1970s, a perinatal bereavement movement began offering parents anotherway to deal with the death of a child at birth, by acknowledging thegrief they feel and by creating family and religious rituals around astillbirth or early death. [...]
Joseph Milton Newell was born on Jan. 8, 11 weeks early. A 5-pound,
2-ounce baby with his father’s nose and the same cleft chin as hisolder brother, Joseph was a stillbirth.
The nurses placed himon his mother’s chest, as if he were a healthy baby, and his parentsheld him for the short time they had. With the encouragement of hospicestaff and his wife, Mr. Newell took the one chance he would have todress Joseph.
When expectant parents learn that their unborn child has a fatal birth defect, they usually opt forabortion. Some, however, choose to deliver, however short the infant's time in this world may be. The *New York Times *has a poignant rundown of hospices that advise and care for these families:
