Here are a few quick news reports, to aid in your pro-life conversations
When Does a Fetus Develop a Heartbeat?
Using ultrasounds, modern science can detect the waves of the baby’s heartbeat as early as three weeks after fertilization. Although the child’s organs have not yet fully formed, soon after this three-week mark the heart beats between 105 to 122 times per minute. A fetal heartbeat can be distinguished from the mother’s because it is often much faster than hers.
At what age can a baby survive outside the womb? Amazing new research shows that premature babies are surviving earlier and earlier outside the womb.
Research published in 2015 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 23 percent of premature infants are surviving as early as 22 weeks of pregnancy. Recently, the British Association of Medicine issued new guidelines encouraging medical treatment for babies born at just 22 weeks of pregnancy, the BBC reports. The association pointed to research showing increasing survival rates for 22-week micro-preemies. About one third of premature babies born at the early stage now are surviving if they receive treatment, according to the report. [1]
Who is the smallest baby ever to survive?
Baby Saybie’s life is a testament to the amazing advances in modern medical technology. Born in December 2018 by emergency cesarean section after her mother developed pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening condition, according to the report. She was 23 weeks gestation. At birth Saybie weighed less than 9 ounces; she is believed to be the smallest premature baby ever to survive. A San Diego hospital deemed her well enough to go home in May, approximately five months after her birth. [2]