Davies, Deborah. “Ethics in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.” preemie-l.org. Preemie-L, 1999. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.
Davies’s article expresses her opinion in regards to how parents should determine whether or not their premature baby receives medical care after being born. She addresses the issue that all cases are very different and unique in their own way; therefore, it would be absurd to draw a specific line to determine which babies are saved and which are not (depending on exactly how many weeks premature they are born). Davies directs her article specifically towards parents of preemies, but also to doctors and nurses within the NICU. Her intent is to express why parents, not neonatal doctors, should be the ones to determine whether medical care is given in an attempt to save the baby. She goes into great detail in order to make her valid point clear to readers. As mentioned before, no two preemie stories are identical. While there are some extremely strong preemies that have a lot of potential, there are others that have very slim chances of survival. In many of these situations, it is obvious to both doctors and parents what decision must be made. Although this may sometimes be the case, Davies mentions how there are a number of different situations. She states, “But there is a gray area, where the best option isn’t clear, and these difficult decisions require thoughtful, heartfelt judgments by the parents.” After all, why should complete strangers be left to make such a serious, life or death decision? Although Davies article is very informative, she remains very biased. In other words, she only gives strong reasoning for the opinion she supports, which was that ultimately, parents should have the final decision regarding whether or not their preemie receives medical care after being born. Although she remains very one sided, Davies offers a great amount of reliable information seeing that she has a Ph.D. She had an extremely focused article, though, and organized her thoughts in a very useful manner. Overall, I found this article very informative. I have the exact same opinion as Davies and enjoyed listening to her thoughts regarding the topic. This has definitely been my favorite preemie article so far, and I intend to put this knowledge towards my research paper! I’m sure this article would be of some interest to parents or family members of preemies who also have the same views. It was great!
I know absolutely nothing about preemies, but I still cannot believe a doctor would be able to make the choice not to treat a child no matter what the scenario. To me that seems like turning down a dying person simply because they have only a very slim chance of surviving. I don't feel like it should be any different if that person is a baby. But anyways, this isn't about my opinion. I'm sure there is another side to the story that I don't know. As far as this article goes, it sounds like it would be a lot of help in your research paper. If you can relate to the author's feelings (you said you have the same opinion as her) it should be very useful for supporting your side. You could probably also find some great quotes to use. You have an awesome research paper topic, especially since you can personally relate and are genuinely interested in what you are writing about.
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