In a distressing account, an anonymous American medical resident has shared her experience of witnessing a baby delivered alive after a failed abortion being left to die by hospital staff. The medical resident entered her night shift to find a 21 to 23-week-old baby girl in a bassinet, crying and alone. She found out that the baby was the result of a failed abortion and that the staff were waiting for her to die.
The mother had initially come to the OB-GYN unit due to injuries resulting from the failed abortion. However, while at the hospital, she delivered a baby girl. Throughout the subsequent rotation, the attending OB/GYN doctor criticized pro-life states and expressed her aspirations for better “abortion care.” Shockingly, despite claiming that palliative care is medical care, the doctor failed to provide basic care to the newborn baby. She classified the baby as an abortion attempt and unwanted, providing only palliative care to fulfill the legal requirement of providing medical care.
Despite being criticized by another resident, the pro-life resident resolutely refused to put the baby back in the bassinet and instead held the dying baby in her arms. She felt helpless as the baby had already been alive for a few hours without respiratory support, with organ failure imminent. Later in her shift, due to an unrelated medical emergency, the entire OB team was called to the operating room, leaving the pro-life resident alone on the unit. She took the baby girl to a separate room, where she prayed over her and sang to her before she passed away.
The resident named the baby Ada, which means “adornment.” Throughout the night, many nurses referred to Ada as the “dead baby.” An attending doctor who came on for the night shift also appeared to have pro-life sentiments, expressing admiration for the resident’s actions. The resident, who is single and still in medical training, had intended to adopt Ada if she had survived.
Despite the heartbreaking situation, the resident said she does not harbor any ill feelings towards the baby’s mother. Instead, she expresses empathy towards her and acknowledges the likely emotional struggle she faced without proper support or counseling.