What did you learn in school today??

I learned more about this picture that I love!!













So they were doing intrauterine correction of Spina Bifida, and the mother and therefore the baby had been sedated. But near the end the baby reached its own hand out of the uterus, and the surgeon let it hold his finger. The photographer was there because this was a controversial procedure being done, and never expected to capture an image this incredible or beautiful. The controversy was that this baby was still young enough to be considered for legal abortion. So when the picture came out, of course Pro-Life activists used it in their campaign that babies are humans, and abortion is murder. It became such a controversy that the hospital had to release a statement saying that the baby hadn't actually pushed its own hand out, that the surgeon had reached in and pulled it out. And the photographer actually ended up losing his job over the picture. But the photographer and the surgeon hold true to the original story, proving that life does NOT start at birth. How could you see this and think any other way?

The other thing I learned in Anatomy today is that 50% of cases of Spina Bifida (and several other neural tube defects, like the horrible Anencephaly) are related to the mother's diet during the first 6 weeks of pregnancy. The cause of it is lack of Folic Acid during this crucial time of spinal cord development.
Here is what Spina Bifida looks like:











It causes paralysis in most babies to any portion of the body below the malformation. Many women don't even realize they're pregnant until close to 6 weeks, let alone see a doctor for a prescription of prenatals. So start your prenatal vitamins BEFORE you get pregnant, like right when you start trying, so you can give your cute little baby the best chance at being healthy, and avoid these preventable defects.