Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Bizarre baby born in Dolakha

analog · 04-05-2006, 01:28 AM

This is a picture of a baby born with anencephaly: Warning, it's kinda disturbing to look at, and a bit close-up.

Baby born with anencephaly...

This is a closeup from the page the news source has:

From news source...

Since i saw it, this is exactly what I thought it was.

I wanted to address a few things:

1. In many places in the world, birth at home is still the custom- either because that's the way it is, or the resources for the hospital are too expensive to use unless something "goes wrong". Also, this article was posted on March 29th, not April 1st. Not sure how it got lumped into the Fool's Day stuff, considering that fact. Oh well.

2. Noting the picture of an anencephaly baby, yes, that's exactly how they appear at birth. From the wiki, which is all correct:

"Although some individuals with anencephaly may be born with a rudimentary brainstem, which controls autonomic and regulatory function, the lack of a functioning cerebrum permanently rules out the possibility of ever gaining consciousness. Reflex actions such as respiration (breathing) and responses to sound or touch may occur. The disorder is one of the most common disorders of the fetal central nervous system."

3. Though I don't have the info for the pic above of the definite anencephaly baby, the weight at birth of the baby in the article was just 4.4 pounds. Whether or not experience tells us what we're seeing "looks like dead baby", it is.

4. In 2003, it was roughly 12 of every 100,000 live births in the US. It is considered to be "underreported" (according to the CDC) on death certificates and infant mortality reports.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pub...spine_anen.htm

This table shows the numbers, from 1991 to 2003, of live births and cases of anencephaly:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/...n_tables.pdf#2

My point is, it seems American media will not cover something like this coming from within our own borders- mostly because it's not news. The only reason this is news-worthy where it's from is because that guy is wandering through the street carrying the body of a baby born with a defect, with a crowd of people trying to get a look at the crazy anomaly. Exploring the science of such an occurence is fine with me, but that article is just sensationlism, pure and simple, in my opinion. I guess there's not enough else to write about.

Oh, and I think people here would have a collective shit if an american news agency printed such a graphic picture of a dead anencephaly baby- or any dead baby, probably. It's just not appropriate.

04-05-2006, 01:28 AM	#13 (permalink)
analog Banned	This is a picture of a baby born with anencephaly: Warning, it's kinda disturbing to look at, and a bit close-up. Baby born with anencephaly... This is a closeup from the page the news source has: From news source... Since i saw it, this is exactly what I thought it was. I wanted to address a few things: 1. In many places in the world, birth at home is still the custom- either because that's the way it is, or the resources for the hospital are too expensive to use unless something "goes wrong". Also, this article was posted on March 29th, not April 1st. Not sure how it got lumped into the Fool's Day stuff, considering that fact. Oh well. 2. Noting the picture of an anencephaly baby, yes, that's exactly how they appear at birth. From the wiki, which is all correct: "Although some individuals with anencephaly may be born with a rudimentary brainstem, which controls autonomic and regulatory function, the lack of a functioning cerebrum permanently rules out the possibility of ever gaining consciousness. Reflex actions such as respiration (breathing) and responses to sound or touch may occur. The disorder is one of the most common disorders of the fetal central nervous system." 3. Though I don't have the info for the pic above of the definite anencephaly baby, the weight at birth of the baby in the article was just 4.4 pounds. Whether or not experience tells us what we're seeing "looks like dead baby", it is. 4. In 2003, it was roughly 12 of every 100,000 live births in the US. It is considered to be "underreported" (according to the CDC) on death certificates and infant mortality reports. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pub...spine_anen.htm This table shows the numbers, from 1991 to 2003, of live births and cases of anencephaly: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/...n_tables.pdf#2 My point is, it seems American media will not cover something like this coming from within our own borders- mostly because it's not news. The only reason this is news-worthy where it's from is because that guy is wandering through the street carrying the body of a baby born with a defect, with a crowd of people trying to get a look at the crazy anomaly. Exploring the science of such an occurence is fine with me, but that article is just sensationlism, pure and simple, in my opinion. I guess there's not enough else to write about. Oh, and I think people here would have a collective shit if an american news agency printed such a graphic picture of a dead anencephaly baby- or any dead baby, probably. It's just not appropriate. Last edited by analog; 04-05-2006 at 01:40 AM..